President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine is continuing preparations for the coming winter using domestic resources as critical EU financing remains blocked.
Zelensky said the blockage of EU funds has significantly constrained Ukraine’s ability to rapidly reinforce energy infrastructure against further Russian attacks, increasing pressure on domestic resources ahead of the next winter season.
“Although it is difficult to meet all the needs through the blocking of European funds for Ukraine – those funds that were supposed to go to restoration, new protection for the winter, and to the development of alternative networks and generation,” Zelensky said in his address from western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia.
“Now we are going to the internal resource, but we are working with partners to unlock this key support package,” he added.
The funding freeze follows Hungary’s veto of a proposed €90 billion ($100 billion) EU loan for Ukraine. Budapest has linked its veto to a dispute over oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, arguing that Ukraine failed to restore operations at the Lviv pump station damaged by Russian strikes.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused Ukraine of deliberately disrupting oil transit.
“Ukraine is blackmailing Hungary by halting oil transit in coordination with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition to create supply disruptions in Hungary and push fuel prices higher before the elections,” Orbán said.
During a Thursday press conference with Bulgaria’s interim prime minister, Zelensky said Ukraine has developed a winter-readiness plan that includes physical protection of infrastructure facilities and air-defense components, according to state media Ukrinform.
Regional resilience plans were approved in March, with large-scale implementation scheduled to begin in early April, but mass construction and reinforcement work have been delayed due to the lack of external financing.
Since late 2025, sustained Russian missile and drone attacks and resulting damage to the energy grid have caused extensive blackouts and power rationing in Ukraine during the winter.
During major attacks in the winter months, Kyiv’s Thermal Power Plant-6 (CHP-6) and the Darnytsia combined heat and power plant (CHPP), which play a critical role in supplying both electricity and heat to Kyiv residents, sustained major damage.
Kyiv Post documented the extensive damage dealt to the Darnytsia CHPP during a government-organized press tour in February.