Ukraine continues the fight to restore electricity after the latest Russian attack, which further damaged the country’s energy infrastructure. The capital remains among the most affected cities: according to the authorities, around 50% of Kyiv is still without electricity.
Polina, 37, says she has been without light for 30 hours and without water for 24. The heating hasn’t worked for two days: «In my neighborhood, many shops have worked to the last minute with torches, noting customer accounts on notebooks, given the impossibility of paying with cards. Now the city is gradually coming back to life, in some places even the traffic lights work », she says. The young woman, a manager in a company, has decided to stay in the capital for the time being: «Every time they attack, I send money to the Ukrainian armed forces. It’s my way of resisting.’ The mayor of Kyiv wrote on his Telegram channel that a third of the houses in the capital already have heating, and technicians continue to work to restore the rest of the network. As regards electricity, the mayor announced that yesterday the energy companies planned to connect – in shifts – the electricity for all consumers in the capital, for 3 hours a day. He invited the inhabitants of Kyiv to come and warm up in “Points of invincibility”, which in the capital amount to 400 and will be open every day. «If there is no electricity in your home for more than a day, you can come and recharge your technological gadgets and torches; drink tea, find out where there are active fountains, or open shops and pharmacies », wrote the mayor.
Not only does the capital have to survive in extremely difficult conditions. After the Russian attacks, the rest of the country also suffers from continuous blackouts, despite the government’s efforts to restore the energy system. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal wrote that there is not even a single thermal or hydroelectric plant left in the country not hit by the missiles, but nevertheless “electricity producers provide coverage of 70% of needs”. The head of government specified that almost all of the country’s critical infrastructures have been reconnected to the grid. The high-voltage infrastructure is functioning, but problems remain in the distribution networks of regional energy companies across the country. “On average, 200,000 to 400,000 consumers are without electricity in each region.” In addition to the bombing of infrastructure, the Russians are also destroying Kherson, recently liberated from occupation. The death toll from the attacks in recent hours has risen to 15 dead and 35 injured, including a child, with the Ukrainian authorities forced to evacuate patients from hospitals due to the incessant bombing.