KYIV, Ukraine – Power outages will be extended to seven regions across Ukraine to keep power grids from going down, Ukraine’s national energy agency said on Saturday, following repeated air strikes by Ukraine Russia targets infrastructure that has weakened the system and is at risk of collapse.
Given that electricity is necessary to keep most essential services running, local authorities have stepped up efforts to prepare for any protracted blackouts, even if Ukraine’s allies announced in recent days it would accelerate the delivery of air defense systems to help further prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure.
The capital Kyiv is also preparing more than 1,000 heating bunkers that can double as bunkers for civilians. Roman Tkachuk, the city government’s security chief, said emergency workers there were preparing for all scenarios, including a complete power outage that could have had to evacuate the capital, where there is a about three million people live.
“We understand that if Russia continues such attacks, we could lose the entire electrical system,” he said on Friday. “That’s why we are preparing for a cold winter.”
Ukrainian officials say more than 40% of the nation’s critical energy infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed as a result of Russian attacks. Utility officials have warned that replacement equipment will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and be difficult to source.
In Kyiv, most shelters are being set up in educational institutions, the exact locations of which authorities have asked not to be disclosed, fearing they would become easy targets.
In one school, the basement is filled with bottles of bottled water, makeshift classrooms are set up, and a fire truck is located in the yard just outside the lecture hall. Just across the hallway with the disaster kit is a reminder of the normal feeling the school once enjoyed: a large poster featuring Minnie Mouse.
On Friday, a Russian missile hit a facility run by a distributor responsible for bringing electricity from the grid to people’s homes in Ukraine. The company said it was the 12th energy facility to be mined in the last month.
Due to the ongoing threat, only essential personnel are working at its distribution points and there are no casualties. But the attack “significantly damaged the enterprise’s energy equipment,” the company said.
The national utility agency, Ukrenergo, on Saturday said the power cuts were necessary to “reduce the load on the networks, ensure a sustainable balance of the power system and avoid repeated accidents after the grid is down. damaged by Russian drone and missile attacks.”
The utility said the outage would affect Kyiv and the surrounding area, as well as the Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy and Zhytomyr regions.
In the capital, authorities have been told that they will likely be given at least 12 hours notice that the grid is not functioning to a degree that prompt repairs and other measures would not allow. Even the power supply is limited. At that point, Mr. Tkachuk said, “we will start notifying people and asking them to leave.”
He said that while the situation is now manageable and there is no sign of people leaving Kyiv in large numbers, a city-wide power outage is a realistic scenario.
“If there was no electricity, there would be no water and no sewage,” he said. “That’s why right now the government and city authorities are taking all possible measures to protect our power supply system.”
