Ukrainians warned to get ready for second winter of attacks on power plants

The first snow of the year fell in Kyiv yesterday, blanketing Ukraine's capital in a layer of white but also raising concerns about a potential Russian attack on the country's energy infrastructure.

- Shaun Walker

Last October, Russia began relentless waves of attacks on critical infrastructure that lasted for months and left millions of people without heating, electricity or water for parts of the winter.

So far this year such attacks have been sporadic, but many fear Moscow is merely waiting for the onset of subzero temperatures in order to cause maximum disruption and distress.

"It has been a warm autumn and Russia postponed these attacks, but they will come for sure. We are preparing," said Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's national security council, in an interview in Kyiv.

Danilov said he had recently returned from an unpublicised visit to London, where he met security and military officials including Sir Tim Barrow, the national security adviser, and Adm Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff. Although he did not go into detail about the discussions he had in London, he said strategies for protecting Ukraine from winter infrastructure attacks had been one of the key topics.

"Our friends, including the ones from Great Britain, help us to solve these extremely difficult issues," he said.