Ukraine increased electricity purchases from abroad to the highest weekly level since the second half of August 2026. The rise in imports comes amid large-scale Russian attacks on energy infrastructure and the forced reduction of domestic generation.

This was reported on November 11 by the analytical center DiXi Group, citing data from the Energy Map platform.

Over the week from November 2 to 8, electricity imports rose by 8.3% compared to the previous week and reached 23.7 thousand MWh. The average daily purchase volume was about 3.4 thousand MWh.

Hungary was the largest electricity supplier for Ukraine, accounting for more than half of all imports. Supply distribution among countries was as follows:

  • Hungary — 13.5 thousand MWh (57.1%);
  • Romania — 8 thousand MWh (33.7%);
  • Slovakia — 1.8 thousand MWh (7.4%);
  • Poland — 0.4 thousand MWh (1.8%).

Compared to the previous week, electricity purchases from Romania increased by 25.9%. At the same time, imports from Poland decreased by 37.1%, and from Hungary — by 9%.

In addition, starting from November 4, Ukraine resumed electricity imports from Slovakia, which had not occurred since September 6. Supplies from Moldova were absent during the reporting period.

Analysts link changes in the energy market to the consequences of ongoing Russian shelling. In particular, on November 3, one of the most extensive attacks affected energy facilities in ten regions of Ukraine.

According to the Ministry of Energy, power plants, transmission and distribution substations, as well as combined heat and power plants were hit. As a result, three DTEK thermal power plants sustained significant damage and stopped producing electricity.

On the night of November 7, Russia again carried out a massive strike on Ukraine's energy sector. Due to equipment damage, emergency outages were introduced in certain regions. In addition, nuclear power plants were forced to reduce generation capacity.

During November 2–8, hourly outage schedules for households and power restrictions for industrial enterprises were in effect in several regions.

In some regions, the volume of outages reached four stages for the first time this autumn. According to DiXi Group's estimate, this means the simultaneous disconnection of about two-thirds of consumers included in the schedules. If such restrictions are applied around the clock, the duration of outages could potentially reach 16 hours per day.

Despite increased purchases of electricity abroad, Ukraine simultaneously increased its exports. During the reporting week, foreign sales rose by 40.5% to 61.4 thousand MWh.

Thus, exports still exceeded imports by about 2.6 times. The main buyers of Ukrainian electricity were Hungary and Moldova, accounting for 53.1% and 25.5% of export supplies, respectively.

DiXi Group notes that most exports took place at night, when electricity consumption is lower. The period from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM accounted for 63% of weekly foreign sales. At the same time, during evening peak consumption hours, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, no exports occurred.

Such a trade structure shows that Ukraine continues to sell electricity abroad during certain hours, despite the need to increase imports and apply electricity supply restrictions during periods of capacity deficit.