Ukraine introduces power cuts across almost all regions
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Ukraine is introducing emergency power cuts in all but two regions following a spate of Russian strikes that have hobbled the country’s energy system, officials say.
Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities as winter approaches, seriously damaging gas production and plunging major cities including the capital Kyiv into periods of darkness.
In a statement, Ukraine’s energy ministry said the fallout from recent strikes had forced it to implement the cuts.
Planned power outages had already been in place in the eastern Donetsk and northern Chernihiv regions.
Earlier on Wednesday, leading private energy provider DTEK said it had returned power to 1.9 million residents mostly in Kyiv and the southern Odesa and southeastern Dnipropetrovsk regions over the past week.
Gas heats most Ukrainian homes, particularly in large cities, via boilers or centralised systems.
Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy are pressing allies to step up supplies of critical air-defence equipment and strengthen energy assistance.
Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal, speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, said Ukraine was preparing for a “very tough, very difficult winter” and urged partners to help Ukraine produce more interceptor drones.
“We understand that Putin will continue his terror.”
with EFE
Reuters
