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Kyiv residents are bracing for what could be the toughest winter of the war in Ukraine, with Moscow raining down record numbers of missiles and drones while targeting the war-torn nation’s energy infrastructure.
Districts in the capital city have been on a rolling blackout schedule, as an estimated 60% of natural gas production capacity has been lost due to Russian strikes, according to the International Energy Agency.
“The power outages, unfortunately, are just everyday life,” Kyiv resident Dmytro Kustov, 29, told the AFP, adding his power now goes out twice a day, for four hours at a time.
Each morning, Ukrainians now wake up to a message from the national energy provider informing them of the day’s power outages resulting from the overnight strikes.
Residents have been rushing to stock up on batteries, generators and gas canisters, as the head of the national energy provider says rolling blackouts could last “throughout the entire winter.”
“The determining factor remains the Russian shelling, the time and intensity of which cannot be predicted,” Ukrenergo head Vitaliy Zaichenko told RBC Ukraine.
“The war continues.”
Ukraine has cut back its electricity consumption by 30% since the start of the full-scale invasion and through the rolling blackouts, Zaichenko said — although losses due to Russian strikes have been much higher.
Moscow struck a major border crossing between Ukraine and Romania overnight Saturday, damaging the Orlivka ferry terminal in the Odesa region, customs officials said.
Russian troops also reportedly captured more than 15 villages in the Zaporizhzhia region since September — an alarming pace, according to the Black Bird Group’s Open-Source Intelligence Collective.
“Ukrainians haven’t been able to stop the Russian advance,” Emil Kastehelmi from the group told the Kyiv Independent.
“In the Russian doctrine, there’s this thing of reinforcing success. … As they see that here’s an area where gains can be made, then they will, of course, opportunistically try to reinforce all the success that they have had, and it looks like it’s paying off.”
