bends, let's do it normally. and just a few minutes before our live broadcast, there was a powerful shooting in the kroka city hall shopping center in the suburbs of moscow. this is one of the shopping and entertainment centers in the suburbs of moscow, there was a concert of the picnic band, and unknown people broke into the shopping and entertainment center, started shooting people, they say that people... wore camouflage and masks,

12 people are already known to have died and 50 wounded, the special forces have already gone there, there is a fire going on 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... we will discuss this event, obviously there will already be some official versions of what happened, well, in short , during the evening, i hope that there will be more information and it will be clear what happened there 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, very much different

information appears, during the evening we we will definitely return to this topic and comment. in addition, during the program we are conducting a survey, today we are asking you about whether ukraine should launch strikes against 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 with either that button or that button if you have a particular opinion. please write in the comments under this video. if you're watching us on air, bring your smartphone and phone. if you think that ukraine should strike at a critical point infrastructure of russia? 0800-211-381. no. 0800-211-382. call, all calls to these numbers are free. well, we have our first guest, ivan plachkov, chairman of the board of the all-ukrainian energy assembly, former minister of fuel and energy. to 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 the large-scale attack of the russian federation on energy facilities, which took place last night on march 22, 15 regions of ukraine were shelled during the day, and a total of 150 infrastructure objects were attacked, it is reported. situational center of the ministry of defense, today's air attack by the russians was aimed at the ukrainian energy infrastructure and became the largest in recent times, says the minister of energy herman galushchenko, in particular , one of the power transmission lines that feeds the zaporizhia nuclear power plant was damaged, for this it has already been restored, several the dniprovska hpp was directly hit by rockets, and in zaporizhzhia, it also happened there. fire like you

mr. ivan, do you assess the extent of the damage caused by russia this night to the ukrainian energy sector? this is truly an unprecedented attack on the energy infrastructure, and both in terms of the number of missiles and geography, thermal power plants in various regions were also damaged, this... and the dnieper river, this is also high-voltage and distribution overhead power lines, and enough a large number of supporting substations, both high-voltage and ee such an average power, ee ee somewhere ukraine lost two two, somewhere two to two 2,500 mw, despite the fact that at that time it was consumed powerfully.

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

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

personnel, well, it is clear that such complex organizational issues are very difficult, but it is quite possible. for this period, of course, we will receive help from our european partners, and now it is technical assistance for electricity, er, well, we will try to balance the power system, as it were, that is why the situation is so difficult, very difficult, critical, and therefore we do not need forget about timely payment for electricity, because energy companies need it recovery funds. and we know the debt on the energy market is about 70 billion, we need to remember about diesel generators so that they are sleepy, we need to save electricity, well, we already know how to do it, and the main factor in protecting our

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

, said on radio svoboda that the gas-2 in zaporizhzhia is in a critical condition, but there is no threat of a dam breach. let's listen to what he said. of course. is powerful, is super powerful, as for the mash hall , you understand the mash hall, it is somewhat lightened, it is the mash hall, where the aggregates are located, where the upper part is, but where the aggregates are located in the construction part in the lower part, this is also a very powerful structure, and the engine hall, where all the electrical equipment, well, of course there are windows there, and if the electrical equipment burns and the transformers burn, then of course... then the station does not work, we will calculate the consequences during the day and we will understand what happened and whether it will be able to work, if he can, then whether in limited or gs2 will not be able to work 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, dniprovska hpp, is a powerful power plant, it is divided there. as in hes-1, gs2, it is more than 1000 mw of power, and it works, as a rule, as a regulating power, which is very necessary, it is very important. for e-e 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 will already find out, it would be difficult to get there, because there was smoke, but the equipment on gs1 has already been partially put into operation and connected, and already partially dniproges has already started working. well, the energy experts will figure it out and it is clear that they will restore this equipment

in order to ensure its full operation , but it all depends on what equipment is damaged, if it is a generator, it is very difficult, it will take more than one month is produced if it is a turbine, if these are transformer. transformer equipment, well, well, power engineers will work, we we know that energy workers, 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 in restoring this day of progress, i think that can be found in warehouses. and at other power plants , hydroelectric power plants in europe, such

equipment is used so that it can be replaced, as for thermal power plants, yes, the situation is more complicated there, in europe , such equipment does not work, such boilers do not work, such turbines are working, so it will be necessary to solve the issue in a slightly different way, prime minister of ukraine denys shmyhal, during the government meeting. promised to restore electricity supply to household consumers during the day. let's listen to what shmyhal said. we are currently working to fix 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 will revive the critical infrastructure, that is heat supply, water supply and hospitals. the second stage we are reviving the population, the third stage we are reviving the industry, first we

need a day to heal all household consumers, we will restore everything gradually. mr. ivan, shmegal says that the situation is controlled by the government, and under what conditions can this situation be uncontrolled? no, you know, the situation, it always is, the energy companies 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 is not enough that the energy companies do not constantly monitor, they, they they are developing new circuits, connections from other substations, and so on, there are many, many options, and well, i would not be so optimistic, well, here we are. well, if the government, they are always such optimists, and the management of the industry will be there in a day,

well, i think in a day, it is unlikely with such bass-like blows, i also said that it is a few days, i think, a week, if they are healed, if everyone can consumers, even after that we must understand that the heating season has come, the equipment has worked almost in full such composition yes. necessary to repair this equipment of power units in the summer , they cannot work for a whole year or two or three without repairs, we need to decommission this equipment, and not exclusively, not exclusively, considering that the situation in power grids, we will have to disconnect some group of consumers for some time, and it fully understood this. this is a war, you can imagine, such, well, well, well, such, this has never happened in any country,

and here are my colleagues from european countries, they are constantly calling me, asking me this, they say, i, like you, how do you do it, how is this system, you can maintain it, how with that equipment warehouse, it works and there is no blackout, say, he says, you write everything down and memorize it, you need... it will be to teach us, these are really incredible things that energy workers are doing today, well, it's so easy to say, let's get it, we'll do everything, well, i would, i would . i didn't say that, i wouldn't say that, i 'm not so optimistic, it's a very difficult situation, dozens of substations, high-voltage networks, several thermal power plants, dnyaprages, well, well, well, what a day, well, thank you, thank you, mr. ivan, for the conversation, it was ivan plachkov, former minister of fuel and energy of ukraine, friends, we are working live on

the espresso tv channel, as well as on our platforms in youtube and facebook, for those who are currently watching us on youtube, take part in ours. in the survey, we ask you about whether ukraine should strike the critical infrastructure of russia, yes, no, or your answer, please write in the comments if you watch us on tv, pick up your smartphone or phone and vote if you think ukraine should strike russia's critical infrastructure (0800-211-381, no), 0800-211-382, all calls to these numbers are free, vote, we're at the end program, we will sum up the results of this vote. 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. and went to kroku city hall mall, where a concert by the band picnic was taking place, now this mall is on fire, there are 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 for saving the country, as he likes to say, and well... use this story in order to intensify the mobilization, or to carry out additional mobilization, to blame ukraine for this, as was the case at the beginning of 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, which, by the way, the americans warned about before putin's election, the so-called election? well, let's start with what you said that we don't have enough information to say what is happening, and moreover, everything that comes from russia, it goes through informational influences, so i do not think that we will have any reliable information. here you correctly emphasized that you warned about... the possibility of terrorist attacks , some representatives of the embassies actually left and called on several countries to leave their citizens there, well, in the past weeks they left russia, that is, in principle, so it was all foreseen and surveys of these countries, and why this is done, we will see,

that is, it is clear that now there are different versions to do, but... i am not a supporter of some kind of conspiracy theory, i am only stating what are medical facts, that this was expected, and it was just commented on in the same way that you said, the strengthening of actions inside russia, and then we let's hear, as a rule, they form special information such throws from this , we get the next one, i think, who is to blame for this, what is it from... that is , i will not be very surprised if it is tied to their tasks, now blackmail foreign countries and ukrainians in the context of the war against russia of ukraine, but for today, for today, i think, one more conclusion, well, it seems to me that we pay too much attention to what

is happening, in this case in moscow, if we have really serious ones. things at the front, and well, one way or another, there will be news around this , but don't forget that we have more urgent problems, issues that require our formation, including information, without a doubt, i agree with you, but well since this whole story is unfolding, well , literally at this very moment there in the moscow region and well in this story, it is obvious, it is obvious that the russian special services could not do without that... because the fact that they are now rebroadcasting and broadcasting russian telegrams, sinkholes there and various russian channels, well, testify to the fact that they are dispersing this whole thing. we have a topic for the last two nights, 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 in general. is the reaction enough? of the world community for what happened, especially that night. the most massive shelling and strikes, such powerful strikes on the energy infrastructure of ukraine? well, i will tell you that is enough, of course, the answer is simple, not enough, and here is a basic question, 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. once, and you know, russia systematically uses, well, i say it again, strategic bombers, which were generally prepared for a nuclear war, uses

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

steps, because they perfectly understand that , firstly, not all of these means are accurate, and secondly, that they do go astray, and glory god, a large part of them are our military, and the defense forces, and 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 it is obviously a total war, and in a total war , now is the stage that you can see what is happening, that is, it is like this strengthening the maximum of all the possibilities of russia , which is actually weaker in the near future, and , by the way, the chancellor of germany, scholz, spoke about this, intelligence data show that the situation in russia is not improving, it is difficult for us, but everything is going downhill for them too , so they want to use this moment, and now they, 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 is that we cannot not lose, well first of all... two things, i want, of course, to people did not die, so obviously we must now work as much as possible to ensure that air defense and anti-missile defense equipment are as effective as possible with the help of partners and with the help of the skills that our military has acquired, but it is clear that you cannot counteract this with such mass actions, but i emphasize once again that here i see a lot of elements... not of a military nature, but specifically of such a terrorist nature for intimidation and demonstrations of force, that is, in some moments it is

visible, so in the grand scheme of things it shows the gaps that we have, it shows our partners the actions that are needed now, not delaying further, and it is very important, you said correctly, it is now to show as much as possible in the world, here is... a nuance: last year, ukraine was serious, not last year, and in the 22nd year, ukraine seriously won over russia in information work outside the country. here, the personal contribution of president zelenskyi, and ukrainian diplomacy, and everyone together, everyone worked on this. now the situation is more complicated. much more complicated, and i will tell you, well, let's be frank , there is such an index of soft power, russia... having lost its reputation in the 22nd year , well, catastrophically, it was in the 105th position there, it dropped to the 105th position in the world, but now it

has risen to the level again with... i mean china, and brazil , and 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 said, here they are. will intimidate the possibilities, just the next stage will be the use of our infrastructure facilities for terrorist actions, terrorist acts, as the zaporozhye station is captured by them, as they did with kakhovskaya, as they have there on the isthmus in 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... this demonstrates that they also have a picture that they create, it does not correspond to the real state of affairs, otherwise would 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 this is what the latest statements are directed at, 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 in a state war with ukraine, allegedly due to the fact that the west began to support ukraine, in an interview in the newspaper argumenty i fakty, 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 a collective event became a participant in it on the side of ukraine, it

already became a war for us. i am convinced of this, everyone must understand this for their internal mobilization, and at the same time he blurted out that russia cannot allow the existence of a state on its borders that has a documented intention to use any methods to take crimea from it, no speaking of the territories of the new regions, that is, absolutely everything is turned upside down, later pisco began to make excuses, i said that the de jure is an ied, but de facto it is already ee... war and what is on piskov's tongue is obviously on putin's mind and has been on his mind for a long time in the mind that he is waging a war, does this mean that with another, another so-called election of putin, that they already approach the war with ukraine in a different way and move to some new stage, which, well, they have to spend there during 2024 . the legal point is important here, as

it is not surprising, the state of war, if it had not been declared in russia, it would have changed a lot, that, not in the situation itself, of course, at the front , but in russia, it would really be a signal of a completely different nature, that is why he began to take back his words, he said it deliberately , of course, but began to correct it, i have my own version this, it does not claim to be the final truth. but i can admit with a large share of cheapness that these numbers that were drawn to putin, in this farce that they call the 87% election, they do not correspond to reality, they do not correspond to the difference with the real support that is in russia and the numbers of this what did they draw they know, well, a narrow circle, well, it's not like that

in... i think that it can break through somewhere, and that's why it seems to me that this is what happened, that putin , on the contrary, now needs to concentrate power again, because he realized that, well, let's say, already his entourage, we took power for another six years, and now let's think about how to share all the burdens of the war and how who gets what at this time, there are many dissatisfied people, so he... needs to strengthen his role again, and he strengthens his role through the very trusted ministry of defense to those directions that he controls, because there are other kremlin towers there, so it is in my opinion in order to return control to the knowledgeable in such an environment, it turned out that...