Tetyana Safonova looks at her mobile phone during Thursday’s blackout in Borodyanka, Ukraine.
Image Paula Bronstein / Getty
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Image Paula Bronstein / Getty
Tetyana Safonova looks at her mobile phone during Thursday’s blackout in Borodyanka, Ukraine.
Image Paula Bronstein / Getty
KYIV, Ukraine – More than 1.4 million Ukrainian households have lost power after a morning of repeated Russian airstrikes, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The General Staff of Ukraine reports that 40 cruise missiles and 16 missiles are believed to be of Iranian production Unmanned aircraft attack Ukraine throughout the day.
Ukraine’s electricity company, Ukrenergo, says the extent of the damage has set a new record, overshadowing the attacks the country has suffered. early October. The previous air strikes marked the biggest escalation in the war since the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian government has repeatedly urged people to reduce electricity consumption, and announced the schedule of power outages if the grid reaches capacity. Ukrenerho warned that power outages could last for eight to 10 hours a day as long as the power lines remain intact. Areas that suffer more damage may be without power for longer periods of time.
The mayor of the western city of Lutsk, Ihor Polishchuk, said the damage caused by the three Russian missiles was “not fit for repair.” He asked for patience as engineers rebuild electrical infrastructure and restore water pressure.
Police also said most of the air raid sirens had no power to warn of other potential strikes. They encouraged residents to charge their mobile phones to receive emergency alerts and said they would turn on their car’s sirens in the event of an impending attack.
Oleksandr Kharchenko, a leading Ukrainian energy expert, told NPR: “When you don’t have electricity in a city, you have no water, no gas supply,” Oleksandr Kharchenko, an expert, told NPR. Ukraine’s leading energy, told NPR. “It’s really a huge hassle.”
Seven of Ukraine’s 25 regions suffered similar damage, most in the west, south and center of the country.
Dr Ihor Dundiuk, deputy director of Rivne city hospital, told national broadcaster that his facilities are running on backup power, are using reserve oxygen and fresh water, but patients are being eat food cooked on a wood stove on the sidewalk.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an adviser to the President of Ukraine, said that the Ukrainian air force intercepted 18 Russian rockets aimed at Ukrainian infrastructure. Military officials note four new German IRIS-T air defense systems to prevent damage to larger cities, but experts fear Ukraine still doesn’t have the air defense capability to cover cities less. Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, has ordered more anti-aircraft missiles in response to Saturday’s attacks.
Kharchenko said he believes the Russian Air Force is working closely with energy experts to minimize civilian damage, although he says Ukraine has the ability to repair the power grid quickly and repeatedly. However, he noted that the strikes have moved from power plants to smaller relay stations and transformer facilities.
Kharchenko said: “Power generation facilities are quite large objects that are protected because there are not so many … ‘It is absolute terror.”
