Ukrainian authorities on Friday announced further power cuts in the country’s largest cities and suburbs, including the capital Kiev, as Russian forces continue attacks on energy infrastructure.
Ukrenergo, the state operator of transmission lines for Ukraine’s high tension, said that “emergency interruptions” of four hours a day were resumed in the Kiev region.
The governor of this region, Oleksiy Kuleba, said through the social network Telegram that the residents of the capital can expect “harder and longer” power outages compared to the start of the war, reported the Associated Press (AP) agency.
The mayor of Kiev already stressed that the city’s power grid is operating in “emergency mode”, due to electricity supply up to half compared to pre-war levels.
Vitali Klitschko added that he hopes that Ukrenergo will find ways to deal with shortages “within two to three weeks, unless circumstances beyond your control”.
In the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, the governor announced on Telegram the start of daily one-hour power cuts from Monday across the province, including the regional capital, which is the second largest Ukrainian city.
The measures “are necessary to stabilize the electricity grid, because the enemy continues to bomb the energy infrastructure”, underlined Oleg Syniehubov.
All over the country the authorities are appeal to the population to save energy, reducing electricity consumption during peak hours and avoiding the use of high voltage appliances.
30% OF UKRAINE’S POWER PLANTS DESTROYED
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted last week that 30% of Ukraine’s power plants have been destroyed since Russia launched the first wave of attacks targeting this type of infrastructure on 10 October.
In Russia, the Defense Minister informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that the The military has called up 300,000 reservists since Putin issued a mobilization order last month to bolster the country’s forces in Ukraine.
Putin’s effort to increase the number of Russian troops deployed along the 1,000-kilometer front line in Ukraine suffered several setbacks, including a Russian withdrawal from the Kkarkiv region.
The mobilization fueled protests in Russia and prompted tens of thousands of men to flee the country.
Serguei Shoigu also informed the Russian head of state that 82,000 reservists have been sent to Ukraine, while another 218,000 are still being trained.
Putin indicated to Shoigu that the military need to ensure that the 300,000 reservists called up so far are trained and properly equipped “so they feel confident when they need to go into combat”.
In the last 24 hours, Russian missiles and artillery attacks caused at least four deaths and 10 injuries, mostly in Donetsk province, in eastern Ukraine, according to the presidential office.
Russian forces are preparing for an attack on Bakhmut after a series of setbacks in the east, as well as Avdiikva, which makes the entire Donetsk region “a zone of active hostilities”, according to Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.
The Russian takeover of Bakhmut, which remained in Ukrainian hands during the war, would pave the way for the Kremlin to advance into other important Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk, Donbass.
A reinvigorated offensive in the east could also potentially stall or derail Ukraine’s effort to recapture the southern city of Kherson, a gateway to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Source: Sicnoticias
