Ukraine is exporting electricity for the first time in six months as its energy infrastructure recovers from months of Russian attacks.
Last October, Russia launched a long-planned assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
It resulted in power outages and scheduled blackouts, leaving towns and cities in the dark during the winter.
Ukraine was forced to halt electricity exports, but it will now be able to resell excess power.
Although local customers remain the priority, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko signed an executive order authorizing the exports.
He claimed that the system had been producing extra capacity for nearly two months and that Ukrainians faced no restrictions.
“The most difficult winter is over,” said Mr Halushchenko on Friday.
“The next step is to begin exporting electricity, which will allow us to attract additional financial resources to rebuild the destroyed and damaged energy infrastructure.”
He also praised engineers and international partners for their “titanic work” in restoring the system.
Residents across Ukraine told the BBC last month that power supplies were becoming more reliable.
“The city has changed,” Inna Shtanko, a young mother in Dnipro, said. “Finally, street lights have returned, and walking through the city streets is no longer frightening.”
However, Ukrenergo, the operator of the country’s electricity network, has warned that Ukraine cannot rely on Russian attacks to stop.
According to Ukrenergo, Russia has launched over 1,200 missiles and drones at its energy facilities so far during the war.
According to the company, the attack was the largest attempt to destroy a European country’s energy system.
This winter, some civilians in Ukraine’s cities had to rely on “resilience centers” to stay warm during power outages and freezing temperatures.
Power and heat were provided by the hubs, as well as basic supplies such as food and medicine.
Since Russia began targeting energy infrastructure, all of Ukraine’s thermal and hydroelectric power plants have been damaged.
Kyiv has also lost control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which is now in Russian hands in Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine stated in June 2022 that it hoped to earn €1.5 billion (£1.33 billion) from electricity exports to the EU, its main energy export market since the war began, by the end of the year.
