MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Rebuilding the Tripolskaya thermal power plant (TPP) doesn’t make sense, as at this point Ukraine lacks the air defenses to protect it, Andrey Gota, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Centrenergo PJSC, opined.
The day before, Ukrainian media disseminated a video showing a fierce fire at the TPP. Later, Centrenergo, which runs the TPP, reported that it had been completely destroyed, as later confirmed by a report from the Ukrainian Energy Ministry.
"It is almost impossible to do this (restore the plant - TASS) without the help of international partners. We already receive certain promises to provide us with transformers, turbines, and other equipment from European countries, but without a sufficient number of missiles for air defense it will be pointless," Ukrainska Pravda quoted the chairman of Centrenergo's supervisory board as saying.
The Ukrainian authorities constantly report a shortage of air defense systems and missiles, calling on the West to transfer them to Kiev. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that Ukraine was "desperately asking" the community to urgently provide it with seven batteries of Patriot air defense systems.
Before that, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that the country was waiting for the Patriot systems and missiles for it, adding that it was difficult to agree on new supplies with the West. In March, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba complained that Western countries were not going to transfer additional Patriot systems to Kiev.
The Tripolskaya TPP is located on the Dnieper River bank (45 km south of Kiev) near the village of Tripolye. After the decommissioning of the Chernobyl NPP, the Tripolskaya TPP with an installed capacity of 1,800 MW became the largest power generating facility in the Kiev Region. It was the largest supplier of electricity to the Zhitomir, Kiev and Cherkassy regions.