KYIV/KHERSON, Ukraine, (Reuters) – Russian missile strikes have crippled almost half of Ukraine’s energy system, the government said yesterday, and authorities in the capital Kyiv warned that the city could face a “complete shutdown” of the power grid as winter sets in.
With temperatures falling and Kyiv seeing its first snow, officials were working to restore power nationwide after some of the heaviest bombardment of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure in nine months of war.
The United Nations says Ukraine’s electricity and water shortages threaten a humanitarian disaster this winter.
“Unfortunately Russia continues to carry out missile strikes on Ukraine’s civilian and critical infrastructure. Almost half of our energy system is disabled,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
He was speaking at a joint news conference with a vice-president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, who offered Ukraine “unwavering support”.
Engineers have been racing to repair the power grid in Kyiv.
“We are preparing for different scenarios, including a complete shutdown,” Mykola Povoroznyk, deputy head of the Kyiv city administration, said in televised comments.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said about 10 million people were without power in a country with a pre-war population of about 44 million. Power supplies were difficult in 17 regions and in the capital, and authorities in some areas ordered forced emergency blackouts, Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
Ukraine’s national grid operator Ukrenergo said Russia had launched six large-scale missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure from Oct. 10 to Nov. 15.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had used long-range weapons on Thursday to strike defence and industrial facilities, including “missile manufacturing facilities”.
Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports.
Russian forces swept into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what Moscow said was a “special military operation” to eliminate dangerous nationalists. Ukraine calls Russia’s action an unprovoked imperialist land grab.
Thousands of Russian men have fled abroad to escape conscription to a conflict which has killed thousands, displaced millions, turned cities to ruins and reopened Cold War-era divisions.
Russian forces plundered areas of the southern Kherson region that are now back under Ukrainian control following a counter-offensive, the deputy head of Zelenskiy’s administration said.
“After a trip to the … Kherson region, one thing became clear – our people there need a lot of help. The Russians not only killed and mined but also robbed all the cities and villages. There is practically nothing there,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on the Telegram messaging app.
