Ukraine says it is exporting power to Europe and can help with countries' energy shortfall after Russia cut gas supply

• Ukraine said Thursday it has started sending "a significant export" of electricity to Romania.

• President Zelenskyy said it can help Europe with some of the energy shortfall caused by Russia.

• A Ukrainian official said they have the potential to export up to 2.5 gigawatts of energy to Europe.

Ukraine said Thursday that it can help with Europe's energy supply after Russia cut countries off, and that it has already exported 100 megawatts of power to Romania.

In a nightly video address on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country's government has sent a "significant export of electricity" to Romania ⁠— a member of the EU ⁠— and is preparing to increase supply in the coming weeks.

"At the expense of Ukrainian electricity, a significant part of the Russian gas consumed by Europeans can be replaced," Zelenskyy said in his address.

Zelenskyy appeared to be echoing comments made by Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the chairman of Ukraine's power-system operator Ukrenergo, who said previously that Ukraine has a lot of electricity to spare after millions of people fled the country amid the war.

"We have a surplus of power, and neighboring countries — they all have deficits," Kudrytskyi said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would get revenue from exporting energy, and that Ukraine doing so would also benefit Europe: "That is, it is not just a question of export revenue for us, it is a question of security for the whole of Europe."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal elaborated on Ukraine's energy export plans on Thursday, saying the country has already sent an initial volume of 100 megawatts to Romania and has the potential to send up to 2.5 gigawatts to Europe in total.

"Under this scenario, the state will be able to receive more than 70 billion Ukraine hryvnia ($2.3 billion) per year," he said.

Kudrytskyi said small amounts of electricity could also begin to flow to Slovakia and Hungary in early July.

Russia has been gradually choking off natural gas supplies in retaliation for European sanctions and military support for Ukraine following its invasion.

Germany — Europe's largest economy — has been particularly reliant on Russian President Vladimir Putin, receiving around 35% of its natural gas from Russia as of last month. But after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the country vowed to become largely independent of Russian gas by mid-2024.

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