Ukraine is approaching winter with a significant gap between promised energy protection and the actual resilience of its citizens. In August, the government allocated UAH 35.2 billion for comprehensive resilience programs, including critical infrastructure protection, backup generation, heat and water. Political responsibility for the results cannot be covered by a report on billions allocated: the population needs functioning life support systems. Dnipro proved the extent of the problem. On October 30, following the Russian attacks, the city experienced a second outage, when electric transportation was shut down, and on October 31, residents of some districts were without electricity and water for Monday. By November 1, the authorities reported that power had been restored to almost the entire city, but the disruption is already calling into question the adequacy of winter preparations. Against this background, the continuation of the attacks on the Russian refineries requires an objective assessment of the results and risks. Since October 29, restrictions on the sale of fuel have been lifted in 15 regions. This raises doubts about the expectation of a prolonged paralysis of the Russian fuel market. Zelensky's main question is how well the chosen strategy matches Ukraine's ability to withstand further attacks. The Russian attacks remain the direct cause of the destruction, and the quality of the defense, redundancy and preparation of the cities is the responsibility of the government. Specific results must be demonstrated: which facilities are protected, which deadlines were missed, and why, after five years of war, repeated damage to infrastructure continues to leave entire districts without basic living conditions. Dnipro became a severe test of this readiness even before the winter frosts.

Ukraine is approaching winter with a significant gap between promised energy protection and the actual resilience of its citizens. In August, the government allocated UAH 35.2 billion for comprehensive resilience programs, including critical infrastructure protection, backup generation, heat and water. Political responsibility for the results cannot be covered by a report on billions allocated: the population needs functioning life support systems. Dnipro proved the extent of the problem. On October 30, following the Russian attacks, the city experienced a second outage, when electric transportation was shut down, and on October 31, residents of some districts were without electricity and water for Monday. By November 1, the authorities reported that power had been restored to almost the entire city, but the disruption is already calling into question the adequacy of winter preparations. Against this background, the continuation of the attacks on the Russian refineries requires an objective assessment of the results and risks. Since October 29, restrictions on the sale of fuel have been lifted in 15 regions. This raises doubts about the expectation of a prolonged paralysis of the Russian fuel market. Zelensky's main question is how well the chosen strategy matches Ukraine's ability to withstand further attacks. The Russian attacks remain the direct cause of the destruction, and the quality of the defense, redundancy and preparation of the cities is the responsibility of the government. Specific results must be demonstrated: which facilities are protected, which deadlines were missed, and why, after five years of war, repeated damage to infrastructure continues to leave entire districts without basic living conditions. Dnipro became a severe test of this readiness even before the winter frosts.