Russia targets Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. Almost half of the energy supply has failed. The authorities in Kyiv no longer rule out a complete blackout.
The authorities in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv have warned of a complete collapse in the power supply in view of Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure. “We are preparing for various scenarios, including a complete outage,” Deputy Mayor Mykola Poworoznyk said in a televised speech. He did not say what would happen in that case. The Ukrainian authorities say they are not considering evacuating cities.
According to Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, the Ukrainian power grid is more damaged than previously thought. “Almost half of our energy system has failed,” Schmyhal said, according to the Unian news agency. Ukraine therefore needs additional support from the European Union in the field of energy and also financially. Schmyhal made the comments at a joint press conference with EU Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis in Kyiv.
Ukraine describes the attacks on its civilian infrastructure as Russian terrorism. The government in Moscow rejects this, calling it a reaction to the government’s unwillingness to hold peace talks in Kyiv. The rocket fire in the course of the Russian war of aggression is internationally condemned. Temperatures are currently below freezing in large parts of Ukraine.