about the world, about the war and about our victory, today in the program. over 150 missiles and drones. ukraine repelled one of the largest air attacks in recent times. how seriously damaged was the energy infrastructure. the first billion is already in july. the european union is ready to give ukraine profits from frozen russian assets. results of the eu summit in brussels. loan instead of aid. republicans in the american congress have seized on trump's idea to support ukraine on credit, is this option acceptable? about this and other things, continue for the next hour we are talking with the former minister of energy ivan plachkov and the former extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of ukraine to the united states valery chaly. in the second part of our program we have there will be a journalist club

olga len and olga musafirova. however, before starting our big conversation like this, let's watch the video consequences of one of the most massive combined strikes of russia on ukraine, which took place on the night of march 22, the russians used 88 missiles of various types, 63 kamikaze drones, the air force managed to shoot down 92 enemy aerial targets out of more than 150. but many missiles and drones hit houses and businesses in zaporizhzhia, kharkiv, dnipro, khmelnytskyi and other cities of ukraine, let's see how it all turned out.

and just a few minutes before our live broadcast, there was a powerful shooting in the crocus hall shopping center in the moscow region, this is one of the shopping and entertainment centers in the moscow region, there was a concert of the band picnic, and unknown people broke into the shopping and entertainment center, started shooting people, they say that on visiting people beach and masky, it is already known about

12 dead and 50 wounded, the special forces have already gone there , there is currently a fire in the shopping and entertainment center, the conclusions of who did it and how they did it will obviously be later, we will talk about it in the first part of our program already with valery chaly and in the journalism club with olga. we will discuss this event with musafirova and olga len. obviously, there will already be some official versions of what happened. well, in a word, during the evening, i hope that there will be more information and it will be clear what is there happened and who arranged it, is it possible that the fsb arranged it, referring there to the fact that some russian terrorist groups may be involved in this, very. a lot of different

information appears, during the evening we will definitely return to this topic and comment. in addition, throughout the program we conduct surveys, today we ask you about these. should ukraine strike russia's critical infrastructure, well, it is meant in response to russia's strikes on ukraine. so, if you're on youtube, yes, no, vote either with that button, or that, if you have your own special opinion, please write it in the comments below this video. if you're watching us on air, bring your smartphone and phone. if you believe that ukraine should strike russia's critical infrastructure (0800-211-380). no 0800 211 382 call, all calls to these numbers are free. well, we have our first guest, ivan plachkov, chairman of the council of the all-ukrainian energy assembly, former minister of fuel and energy of ukraine, mr. ivan, i congratulate you,

thank you for being with us today, congratulations, good health to everyone, and we wish you good health, let's start with a large-scale strike by the russian... federation on energy facilities, which took place on the night of march 22, was shelled a total of 150 infrastructure objects were attacked in 15 regions of ukraine during the day. this was reported by the situational center of the ministry of defense. today's air attack by the russians was aimed at ukrainian energy infrastructure and became the largest in recent times, the ministers say. herman glushchenko of energy, in particular one of the power transmission lines supplying the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was damaged. at this time, it has already been restored. the dniprovska hpp suffered several direct rocket hits, and a fire broke out there as well in zaporizhzhia. how do you,

mr. ivan, assess the extent of the damage caused by russia this night to the ukrainian energy industry? this is truly unprecedented in scale. an attack on the energy infrastructure, and both in terms of the number of missiles and in terms of geography, thermal power plants were also damaged in various regions, including the dnieper, and air lines high-voltage and distribution power transmission, and a sufficiently large number of support substations. both high-voltage and such medium power, somewhere in ukraine ukraine lost two, two, somewhere two to two 2,500 mw, despite the fact that at that time about 10 thousand megawatts were consumed in terms of power, that is 20%, and

the aggressor tried to destroy the integrity of our energy system , destroy it. in order for us to have a blockade across the country as a whole, but the energy workers kept the power supply, and the city of kharkiv was also cut off, and in other regions, cities, villages, regions, but energy workers managed to restore the main power lines in a fairly short period of time, including the damaged one at... the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the recovery of consumers is already beginning in terms of the scale of losses , but in terms of equipment and equipment

, such expert assessments are currently underway, well , we can say that they are quite large , as regards the supply of electricity to consumers, i believe that it is... well, i think it is a matter of days there, several days, i think a week at the most, and there may be some local, regional outages in order to power engineers could also restore substations and so on, well, it will be such short-term such outages, well, if we entered the heating season this past one with a margin of safety somewhere... 5-8%, and as a rule, in measured times, we entered with a margin of 30 -40, then it will be difficult for us to restore all the equipment before the next disgraceful season, for this we need very large funds, for this we need resources, such as human resources,

for the repair personnel, well, it is clear that such complex organizational issues are very difficult, well, it is quite maybe on... this one period, of course, we will receive help from our european partners, and now it is coming, technical assistance for electricity, uh, well, we will, if,... try to balance the power system, that is why the situation is so difficult, very difficult, critical, and therefore, we do not need to forget about timely payment for electricity, because energy companies need funds for restoration, and we know the debts on the energy market of about 70 billion, we need to remember diesel generators so that they are dormant, we need to save electricity. well, we already are we know how to do it, and the main factor

in the protection of our energy infrastructure is air defense, we need to strengthen it, taking into account the fact that there are such massive attacks, when there are a large number of missiles and it is difficult to intercept them, shoot them down and so on, we need strengthen protection nuclear power plants, thermal power plants, that is, high-voltage networks, substations, and we must not forget that there have not yet been any strikes on our gas transportation network, on our gas transportation networks, so while we are pumping this gas to europe, the russian at the end of the year, i think that when the contract ends, next year we can expect an attack on the gas transport infrastructure, mr. ivan. director of ukrhydroenergo ihor syrota

said on radio svoboda that hps-2 in zaporizhzhya is in a critical state, but there is no danger of the dam breaking. let's hear what he said. the hydroelectric power plant is, of course, powerful, super-powerful. as for the mash hall, the mash hall, you understand, it is somewhat of a clothing store, and it is the mash hall where the aggregates are located, where the upper part, but where... are located in the construction room in the lower part, it is also a very powerful building, and the engine room, where all the electrical equipment is, well, of course there are windows, there about, and if the electrical equipment burns and the transformers burn, then of course the station does not work, we will calculate the consequences before day and we will understand what happened and whether she will be able to work, if she can, whether she will be able to work for a limited time or not at all for a certain period. mr. ivan, what does the absence of hpp-2 in the ukrainian

energy system mean in numbers? well, look, this, the dniprovska hpp, is a powerful power plant, there it is divided into hes-1, hes-2, it's more than 1000 mw of capacity and it works generally as a regulating power, which is very necessary, it's very important for... uh, balancing for the stable operation of the power system, and we know that on gs2 there was a fire in mashzal, now i think that they are already finding out, it was difficult to get there, because there was smoke, and, but partially the equipment on gs1 has already been put into operation and connected, and partially the dnpes has already started working, well... they will figure it out and it is clear that they will restore this

equipment and in order to provide it work in full, but it all depends on what equipment is damaged, if it is a generator, it is very difficult, it is necessary, it takes more than one month to produce, if it is a turbine, if these are transformer... forming equipment, well, well, the energy companies will work, we know that the energy companies , they have always been distinguished by high discipline, high organization and the highest professionalism, well, i hope, there are already statements that our european partners, they have already promised to provide assistance for the restoration, the day of progress, i think that on warehouses can be found. e and in other power plants and hydroelectric power plants

of europe such equipment so that it can be replaced. as for thermal power plants, yes, the situation is more complicated there, in europe we do not have such equipment, such boilers do not work, such turbines do not work, so we will have to solve the issue in a slightly different way. the prime minister of ukraine, denys shmyhal, promised during the government meeting. restore electricity supply to household consumers during the day. let's hear what shmigel said. now we are working on fixing everything. repair crews are working 24x7 to restore electricity to ukrainian homes as soon as possible. we will return the light in three stages: the first - we revive the critical infrastructure, this is heat supply, water supply and hospitals, the second stage we revive the population, the third stage we revive the industry. first, we need a day

to restore all household consumers, we will restore everything gradually. mr. ivan, shmehal says that the situation is controlled by the government, and under what conditions this situation can be not controlled? no, you know , the situation is always there, the energy workers always control the situation, they, because the energy system, it works around the clock, regardless of anything, if there is damage, the information is immediately available, and it's not enough that they don't control it. they constantly develop new connection schemes from other substations and so on, there are very, very many options, and well, i would not be so optimistic, well, if we had a government, they are always such optimists and the management of the industry, there for a day, well, i think in

a day it is unlikely that with such bass beats i i... i said, it's a few days, i think a week, if they are healed, if all the consumers can, even after that we must understand that the heating season has come, the equipment has worked almost in its full capacity, we need to repair it in the summer this equipment, power units, they cannot work for a whole year or two or three without repairs, we need to... take this equipment out of service, and not exclusively, not exclusively, given that the situation is so complicated in power networks, to us on some group of consumers will have to be disconnected for a certain period, and it fully understood this, it is a war, you can imagine, such, well, such has never happened in any country, and here

are my colleagues from european countries, they constantly call me and... and ask , they say, i, how do you do it, how is this system, you can maintain it, how with that equipment warehouse, uh, it works and there is no blackout, say, he says, you record and remember everything, it will be necessary to teach us, these are really incredible things that today power engineers do, well, it's so easy to say, yes, here we go, we'll do everything, well, i would, i would n't say that. i wouldn't say so, i'm not so optimistic, it's a very difficult situation, dozens of substations, high-voltage networks, several thermal power plants, dneprogest, well, well, well, what a day, well, thank you, thank you, mr. ivan, for the conversation, it was ivan plachkov, the former minister of fuel and energy of ukraine, friends, we are working live on

the espresso tv channel, as well as on our youtube and facebook platforms, for those who are watching us now on youtube, take part in our survey. we ask you about whether ukraine should strike russia's critical infrastructure, yes, no, or your answer, please write in the comments if you are watching us on tv, pick up your smartphone or phone and vote if you do you think that ukraine should strike the critical infrastructure of russia (0800-211-381, no), 0800-211-382. all calls to these numbers are free, vote, we will summarize this at the end of the program voting. next, we have valery chaly, diplomat, ambassador of ukraine to the united states of america in 2015-19, chairman of the board of the ukrainian crisis media center, mr. valery, i congratulate you, thank you for being with us today, i congratulate you, glory to ukraine , glory to the heroes, you know, literally before our eyes , the story of the shooting is unfolding in the suburbs of moscow, well, they are already talking about 40,

40 dead and more than 100 wounded, some unknown people came. in the croc city shopping center hall, where the concert of the band picnic took place, now this mall is on fire, some people in camouflage , of course, there is very little information, but the way the russians are spreading all this hysteria and history now, it seems that putin will then call to save the country, as he likes to say, and well... to use this story in order to strengthen the mobilization, or to carry out additional mobilization, to blame ukraine for this, as it was, by the way, at the beginning. in the 2000s, when events took place in nordost, when i watch these footage, the story of nordost is immediately before my eyes, how do you observe this,

how do you assess whether it is similar to those provocations or terrorist attacks that were supposed to take place in russia, about which, by the way, the americans warned before the elections of putin, the so-called elections, well, let's start with the fact that you said that the information we have... is not enough to say what is going on, and moreover, everything that comes from russia, it comes through informational influences, so i don't think we will have any reliable information, here you correctly emphasized that you warned about the possibility of terrorist attacks, just in fact you left yes, some representatives of the embassies called on several countries for their citizens to leave there... well, in the past weeks they left russia, that is, in principle, it means that this was all foreseen by the developments of these countries, but

we will see why this is being done, that is it is clear that now it is possible to make different versions, but i am not a supporter of any conspiracy theory, i am only stating what are medical facts, that it was expected, and it was just commented on in the way that you said, reinforcement. the harshness of actions inside russia, well, we will continue we will hear, as a rule, they form special informational such throws from this, we get the next one, i think the throw, who is to blame for this, that it happened, that is , i will not be very surprised if it is tied to their tasks now of external blackmail countries and ukrainians in the context of the russian war. against ukraine, but for today, for today, i think another conclusion, well i think we pay too much attention to what is happening, in this case in moscow, if

we have really serious things on the front, and well one way or another there will be news around it, but don't forget that we have more urgent problems, issues that need our attention. formation , including information, without any doubt, i agree with you, but since this whole story is unfolding right now in the suburbs of moscow, and well, in this story , it is obvious that the russian special services could not do without there, because what there are now rebroadcasting and broadcasting russian telegram cesspools there and various russian channels, well , they testify to the fact that they are dispersing this whole topic for the last two nights, the russians have been launching massive rocket attacks on critical infrastructure facilities, putin's army is hitting cities, putin's army is hitting dniproges,

wiping out entire streets and making the whole of kharkiv and the whole of ukraine unlivable. . is the reaction of the world community sufficient to what happened, well, in particular , this night to... the heavy shelling and strikes, such powerful strikes on the energy infrastructure of ukraine. well, i'll tell you what is enough, of course the simple answer is not enough, and here it is the question is basic, in fact, we, let's say, not we, in the world, are getting used to this kind of messages, because this is not the first time. and you know, russia systematically uses, well , i say it again, strategic bombers, which were prepared for a nuclear war in general,

uses one and a half thousand kilograms, tons of bombs, that is, it is all obvious, and they know it all, there is simply no such reaction. because no one understands what to do with it. in that paradigm and in that strategy that was before that, different countries of the world, and obviously for everyone, that if we don't change our approaches, if we don't change in opposition to russian criminal, defiant, insolent and such frank actions, then it can go far. what you can see here, you can see what they are demonstrating, it is blackmail, it is obviously not only what you said, and it is right. on the destruction of the infrastructure, and this is also blackmail, that is, they are trying to force the ukrainians to surrender with such and such ... such

and such steps, because they understand very well that, firstly, not all these means are accurate, and secondly, that they still go astray, and glory by god, a large part of them are our military , and the defense forces, and the air defense forces, and the air force, they are well done, and our firefighters and those who eliminate the consequences, they are fighting in this war, and this... you can see a total war, and in total war is now at a stage where you can see what is happening, that is, it is such a strengthening of the maximum of all the capabilities of russia, which is actually weaker in the near future, and, by the way , german chancellor olaf scholz also spoke about this, intelligence data show that the situation in russia is not is improving, so it is difficult for us, but for them everything is going down too, so they want to take advantage of this moment, and now they are, it was

predicted. in these months, they are increasing the pressure in all directions, on everyone, but after that , i am sure, they will not succeed in anything, that is, the only thing that we cannot lose, well, first of all , two things, i want, of course, that people do not die, therefore, we obviously have to work as hard as possible to ensure that air defense and anti-missile defense equipment are as effective as possible. and with the help of partners and with the help of those skills acquired by our military, but it is clear that you will not be able to do this to counter such massive actions, but i emphasize once again that here i see a lot of elements of a non-military nature, namely such terrorist elements for intimidation and demonstrations of force, that is, in some moments it is visible, therefore... in the long run, it shows

the gaps that we have, it shows our partners the actions that are needed now, no further delay, and it is very important, you rightly said, to show it as much as possible in the world now, there is one nuance here: ukraine was serious last year, not last year, in 22 , ukraine is serious won in russia in informational work outside the country, here is the contribution. personal of president zelensky, and ukrainian diplomacy, and everyone together, everyone worked on this, now the situation is more difficult, much more difficult, and i will tell you, well, let's be frank , there is such an index of soft power, russia, having lost its reputation in 22 last year, well, catastrophically, they were in the 105th position , they fell to the 105th position in the world, but now they

have risen to the level with us again. this does not mean only western partners, of course , it also means china, brazil, south africa, and all countries, but this is a challenge, so we need, i think, in every direction to strengthen precisely the truth and fixation of those positions and legal, legal, narratives that russia is now trying to undermine. in the energy sector, this is also a separate direction, i would say, here they will be for... to intimidate the possibility that the next stage will be the use of our infrastructure facilities for terrorist acts of terrorist acts, as the zaporizhzhia station was captured by them, as they did with kakhovskaya, as they have there on the isthmus to the crimea, that is, unfortunately, this threat of using such man-made dangerous objects is growing again, so we have to be ready for it, but russia

by this very thing... demonstrates that they also have a picture that they create, it does not correspond to the real state of affairs, otherwise some actions would have been completely different, had a different character, that is, they are now, it seems to me, concentrating all their forces, all possibilities, in order to achieve the capitulation of ukraine. well, it is obvious that the latest statements, including dmitry piskov, putin's press secretary, who stated that we previously talked about... a special military operation, and there is a war going on, and russia is at war with ukraine, allegedly because the west started supporting ukraine, interview in the arguments and facts newspaper, he said that literally, we are in a state of war, so it started as a special military operation, but as soon as a camp was formed there, when the collective event became a participant in this...