Because of Russia's attacks on the power grid
A difficult winter looms over Ukraine
Russian bombing The people of Kherson are horrified.
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A Ukrainian soldier stands next to a destroyed Russian tank.
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Ukraine's government on Monday urged its citizens to conserve energy amid relentless Russian attacks that have halved the capacity of the country's power grid, while the United Nations World Health Organization warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine this winter.
Authorities said millions of Ukrainians, including residents of the capital, Kyiv, could face power outages until at least the end of March due to the missile attacks, which caused "enormous" damage, according to Ukraine's National Energy Corporation.
Ukraine experienced unusually mild temperatures this autumn, but the temperature has begun to drop below zero, and it is expected to reach -20 degrees Celsius, or even lower in some areas during the winter months.
targeting
Russia is targeting Ukrainian energy facilities after a series of setbacks on the battlefield, including the withdrawal of Russian forces from the southern city of Kherson, to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River that runs through the center of the country.
"Rationalization of electricity remains of great importance," Prime Minister Dennis Shmihal said, via the "Telegram" application, the day before yesterday.
He added that "scheduled power outages occur in all regions, and it is possible to cut off electricity due to emergency conditions in some situations, as frost attacks have begun, and electricity consumption is on the rise."
The head of the National Electric Power Company, Volodymyr Kudritsky, said yesterday that "practically no power plant remained undamaged, but he denied the need to evacuate civilians."
"We cannot generate the amount of energy that consumers use," Kudritsky said in a statement, adding: "Temperatures are expected to rise again, after a short cold wave yesterday, which provides an opportunity for the stability of the energy generation system."
darkest days
The World Health Organization said hundreds of hospitals and healthcare facilities in Ukraine lack fuel, water and electricity to meet people's basic needs.
“The health system in Ukraine is facing its darkest day in the war so far,” Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said in a statement after visiting Ukraine.
After suffering more than 700 attacks, it is now a victim of the energy crisis.
Repair
Workers are scrambling to repair damage to the energy infrastructure, according to Sergey Kovalenko, chief executive of Yasno, which supplies Kyiv with energy.
"Stock up on clothes and blankets that provide warmth, and think about options that will help you get through a prolonged blackout," Kovalenko said.
Ukrainian media quoted the deputy director of the Ukrainian President's Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, as saying in a statement: "Gas pumping has resumed in 1,300 regions that were recovered from Russia in a Ukrainian counterattack."
Water pumping has also been resumed in 1,400 areas, and mobile communications services have been restored in 1,200.
And the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Irina Vereshchuk, in a message via the “Telegram” application addressed to the residents of Kherson, published a number of ways through which residents can express their desire to leave.
And she wrote, "You can be evacuated during the winter period to safer areas in the country."
Russia's Tass news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that "the Russian attacks on the energy system are the result of Kyiv's unwillingness to negotiate."
"Russia is bombing Kherson from the other bank of the Dnipro River now that its forces have fled," said Mikhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president.
"There is no military logic: they just want revenge on civilians," he wrote in a tweet late Monday.
Russian exile
Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians as part of what it calls a "special military operation" to rid Ukraine of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities.
Kyiv and the West describe Russia's actions as an "unwarranted colonial appropriation" of territory in the neighboring country, which it once controlled as part of the Soviet Union.
The nine-month-old war has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and inflicted severe damage on the global economy.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that "the worst global energy crisis since the seventies of the last century, may bring about a severe economic recession, with the greatest damage to Europe."
And battles continue to rage in the east, as Russia launched an offensive along the front line west of the city of Donetsk, which has been controlled by its proxies since 2014.
"The attacks continue to damage basic infrastructure and civilian homes," said the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The governor of the region, Pavlo Kirilino, said via Telegram that four people were killed and four others injured in Ukrainian-controlled areas of the Donetsk region in the last 24 hours.
He added that "the Russian bombing also hit a center for the distribution of humanitarian aid in Orihiv, in southeastern Ukraine, the day before yesterday, killing a volunteer and wounding two women."
Oryhiv is located about 110 km east of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been bombed again in the past few days.
Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the blasts at the station.
In the Black Sea Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Russian air defenses were activated and two drones were shot down over the city of Sevastopol, the day before yesterday, according to the regional governor, who called on the population to remain calm.
Sevastopol is the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
aid and raids
In turn, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said that "Ukraine has received a batch of financial support worth 2.5 billion euros ($2.57 billion) from the European Union."
In Washington, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said he would begin disbursing $4.5 billion in US economic aid to Ukraine in the coming weeks to enhance its economic stability.
Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) said it, along with police forces, raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early yesterday, as part of operations to combat suspected subversive activities by Russian special services.
The sprawling Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, or Monastery of the Caves, is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the seat of the wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is backed by Russia and supervised by the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Orthodox Church in Russia condemned the raid, describing it as an "act of intimidation".
• Millions of Ukrainians, including residents of the capital, Kyiv, may face power outages until at least the end of March, due to the missile attacks, which caused "enormous" damage.
• Ukraine experienced unusually mild temperatures this autumn, but the temperature has started to drop below zero, and is expected to reach -20 degrees Celsius, or even lower in some areas during the winter months.
Worst winter since World War II
The Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said that "a gloomy winter awaits the three million residents of the Ukrainian capital, due to the damage caused to the country's energy infrastructure as a result of the Russian bombing."
"This is the worst winter since World War II," Klitschko told the German newspaper Bild in comments published yesterday.
"The city must be prepared for the worst-case scenario of large-scale power outages at low temperatures, in which case some residents will have to be evacuated," Kyiv's mayor said, adding, "But we don't want it to come to that."
Klitschko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to drive the population out of Kyiv, by launching attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Klitschko said, “Putin wants to terrorize the population and make them freeze without lighting, to put pressure on the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
But this will not happen.
My impression is that people will only get more angry, and they will become more determined.
We will not die or flee as Putin wants.”
Klitschko asked Germany to urgently send generators, protective clothing and humanitarian goods, as well as defense weapons.
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