KYIV, Ukraine – Nationwide electricity bans went into effect across Ukraine early Thursday, with 10 days of Russian air strikes affecting the country’s energy infrastructure and lead to a power outage.
Ukraine’s energy system has suffered more attacks in the past 10 days than in the previous eight months of the war, according to Ukrenergo, the country’s electricity agency.
The hard belting happens later President Volodymyr Zelensky The Russian attacks knocked out a third of the country’s power plants in the past week, just as the weather started to get colder, raising fears that attacks on vital services could cause a humanitarian crisis.
The government has ordered Ukrainians to reduce their electricity use from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., signaling a new phase of the war in which residents may lack basic services as winter approaches. near the.
Ukrenergo warned in a statement on messaging app Telegram The blackout lasted up to 4 hours on Thursday and urged Ukrainians to charge their electrical devices.
“Make sure you have your phone, power bank, water, flashlight and battery charged before 7 a.m. tomorrow morning,” it said.
Vitaly Klitschko, the city’s mayor, said most of Kyiv’s tram lines were replaced by buses on Thursday in an effort to help save electricity. He urged residents to avoid using microwave ovens and electric kettles, according to a posted on Telegram. He told store owners to limit the lighting of signs and screens.
Klitschko said the city also turned on its heating network on Thursday, “taking into account weather conditions and the need to save electricity (so that Kyiv residents do not heat their homes with air conditioners without air conditioning) gas and electric heaters).”
Last week, Russia launched a massive air campaign with missiles and drones, targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine. On October 10, electricity was lost in more than 10 cities from Kyiv to Kharkiv following a series of missile attacks that Ukrainian officials say aimed to incapacitate the nation’s energy system. Russia said shelling in response to a truck bomb that damaged an important bridge connecting Russia and Crimea.
Recent strikes have destroyed 30% of Ukraine’s power plants and caused “massive nationwide blackouts”. Mr. Zelensky said on Tuesday, and Ukrenergo said attacks since October 10 have damaged more of the country’s energy systems than attacks during the previous eight months.
The government minister, Oleksii Chernyshov, on Tuesday said 408 sites in Ukraine had been hit in recent attacks, including 45 energy facilities. Multiple attacks have also hit thermal power plants that generate steam to heat homes and businesses. On Wednesday, three additional power facilities were destroyed.
In his nightly address, Zelensky encouraged Ukrainians to take the new restrictions seriously, assuring listeners that scheduled blackouts would be shortened if enough energy was saved. “This requires our joint efforts,” he said. “They need more tomorrow than before.”
Energy in Ukraine is highly concentrated, although power plants can operate independently, so the country can be divided into energy “islands” even if the connections between them are broken, system experts in this country said.
But while the system has some resiliency, they reckon it will take weeks to fully repair. And new attacks have continued on a near-daily basis, with some infrastructure hit on Wednesday and air raid sirens over much of the country on Thursday warning of attacks. work can happen.
The World Health Organization has warned about the possibility of a humanitarian crisis spiraling, provided that no access to fuel or electricity “could become a matter of life and death if people were unable to heat their homes.” .”
