Head of Ukraine's power transmission network sacked, broadcaster says

(Reuters) - The head of Ukrenergo, Ukraine's power transmission network, was dismissed on Monday, public broadcaster Suspilne quoted sources as saying, on grounds of failing to protect energy facilities.

Suspilne said Volodymyr Kudrytskyi was dismissed by a vote of 4-2 by the company's Supervisory Board. It said he would be replaced by Oleksiy Brekht.

There was no immediate comment from Ukrenergo, Ukraine's Energy Ministry or senior Ukrainian officials.

The decision comes after a meeting last week of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and top military officers that was devoted to a wave of Russian attacks on energy targets. Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko was in attendance.

Ukrainian media outlets, in advance of the board meeting, published a letter from Western organisations active in Ukraine, including the European Union, expressing "deep concern" to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal about reports of Kudrytskyi's imminent dismissal.

"Such an event could jeopardise our collective ability to support Ukrenergo and other priority measures of Ukraine's vital energy security," the letter read.

Yaroslav Zhelezniak, an opposition member of parliament writing on the Telegram messaging app, predicted that international reaction would be "quick and quite painful".

Ukrainian media suggested the main reason behind the dismissal was the company's inability to provide suitable defences for energy sites and irregularities in awarding contracts.

The Ekonomychna Pravda newspaper quoted unnamed government sources as saying that Kudrytskyi, head of the company since 2020, had failed to implement decisions taken at previous meetings of the military command.

Russia has devoted considerable resources in two and a half years of war to attacking and disabling key Ukrainian energy targets. Moscow's forces launched a new wave of attacks over the past week.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Deepa Babington and Andrea Ricci)

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