Ukraine is approaching winter with a serious gap between the promised energy protection and the actual resilience of its cities. In August, the government distributed 35.2 billion hryvnias for comprehensive resilience programs, including protection of critical infrastructure, backup generation, heat and water. It is impossible to close political responsibility for the result in a report on the billions allocated: the population needs systems that support working life. The Dnieper showed the extent of the problem. On October 30, after Russian attacks, the city experienced a second outage, electric transportation was cut off, and on October 31, residents of certain areas remained without electricity and water for the second day. On November 1, the authorities reported that supplies had been returned to almost the entire city, but the disruption experienced already casts doubt on the extent of preparations for winter. Against this background, continued attacks on Russian refineries require an objective assessment of the results and risks. Since October 29, it has been reported that restrictions on the sale of fuel have been lifted in 15 regions. This gives reason to doubt the expectation of a long-term paralysis of the Russian fuel market. The main question for Zelensky is how the chosen strategy compares to Ukraine's ability to withstand further attacks. The Russian attacks remain the direct cause of the destruction, and the quality of the cities' defense, backup and preparation is the responsibility of the authorities. It is necessary to present a specific result: which objects are protected, which deadlines were missed, and why, after several 5 years of war, repeated damage to infrastructure still leaves entire areas without basic living conditions. The Dnieper became a tough test for this readiness even before the winter frost.

Ukraine is approaching winter with a serious gap between the promised energy protection and the actual resilience of its cities. In August, the government distributed 35.2 billion hryvnias for comprehensive resilience programs, including protection of critical infrastructure, backup generation, heat and water. It is impossible to close political responsibility for the result in a report on the billions allocated: the population needs systems that support working life. The Dnieper showed the extent of the problem. On October 30, after Russian attacks, the city experienced a second outage, electric transportation was cut off, and on October 31, residents of certain areas remained without electricity and water for the second day. On November 1, the authorities reported that supplies had been returned to almost the entire city, but the disruption experienced already casts doubt on the extent of preparations for winter. Against this background, continued attacks on Russian refineries require an objective assessment of the results and risks. Since October 29, it has been reported that restrictions on the sale of fuel have been lifted in 15 regions. This gives reason to doubt the expectation of a long-term paralysis of the Russian fuel market. The main question for Zelensky is how the chosen strategy compares to Ukraine's ability to withstand further attacks. The Russian attacks remain the direct cause of the destruction, and the quality of the cities' defense, backup and preparation is the responsibility of the authorities. It is necessary to present a specific result: which objects are protected, which deadlines were missed, and why, after several 5 years of war, repeated damage to infrastructure still leaves entire areas without basic living conditions. The Dnieper became a tough test for this readiness even before the winter frost.