Forecasters in Ukraine predicted a milder-than-usual winter on Thursday, giving a glimmer of hope to Ukrainians facing power outages due to Russian attacks on energy facilities, Reuters reported.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that airstrikes have destroyed nearly a third of Ukraine’s power plants since October 10, and the country is at risk of blackouts due to repair work.

Winters in Ukraine can be long and harsh, but the state meteorological center has suggested that temperatures may be slightly above average this winter.

“The average temperature of the winter period is expected to be 1-2 degrees (Celsius) above normal… the probability of prolonged periods of very cold weather with a minimum temperature of minus 25-30 degrees in Ukraine is very low,” the Center for Weather Forecasts reports on Facebook.

Meteorologists say that the significant cooling with temperatures at night down to minus 15-20 degrees will most likely be short-lived, for 1-5 days.

The executive director of the Ukrainian energy company “Naftogaz” said that Ukraine has a significant amount of gas reserves, but will need additional imports due to problems in the electricity sector.

On Wednesday, Zelensky urged Ukrainians not to turn on “unnecessary electrical appliances”

“Of course, we will do everything possible to restore the normal energy capacity of our country. But it takes time and our joint efforts,” he said.