Ukraine: Strikes again cause water and power cuts

Residents of kyiv gathered by candlelight in a bar in the center of the capital, during a power outage after strikes against the electricity infrastructure this Friday, December 16, 2022. AFP - DIMITAR DILKOFF

Text by: RFI Follow

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Ukraine suffered, this Friday, December 16 in the morning, new Russian missile strikes which caused water cuts in the capital kyiv and power cuts across the country, Moscow showing itself determined to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, "about 40 missiles" Russians targeted kyiv on Friday, 37 of which were shot down by the anti-aircraft defense.

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According to the authorities, nine power generation facilities were affected, leading to numerous blackouts across the country.

Electricity grid operator Ukrenergo said the energy system had lost more than half of its capacity due to the latest strikes.

Electricity was completely cut off in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, in the northeast, and in several other areas.

The mayor of Kharkiv spoke of " 

 ", while the Kiev metro was at a standstill most of the day.

Two people were killed in the explosion of a residential building in Kryvyi Rih and a third in Kherson.

►To re-read: In Donetsk, under the Ukrainian bombardments, the time is not for the end-of-year celebrations

Attacks have intensified this week, with Russia targeting civilian infrastructure.

The intensity of these strikes makes it increasingly difficult to undo the damage.

Winter as a weapon of war is what Ukraine is accusing Russia of by hitting critical facilities amid sub-zero temperatures across much of the country.

The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell on Friday condemned as " 

 " the missile attacks carried out by Russia against Ukraine and denounced " 

 ".

Stepan is a resident of Kyiv.

He and his family are often without electricity, he says.

The bombardments started yesterday morning, they are using drones to attack kyiv, we woke up around 6 am to the sound of explosions.

Since then, they continue to bombard our infrastructures, 40 rockets fell on kyiv today.

At 8 am we had a power outage.

We were expecting a scheduled outage between 6 am and 10 am, but everything was cut off at 8 am and it lasted until 3 pm.

In addition, during all this time, we had no water either.

So it was difficult for us to heat ourselves to eat, we couldn't wash our hands or even use the toilet.

We expected it a bit, we had put some water aside, but in general, it's still quite difficult.

The testimony of Stepan, resident of kyiv

Clea Broadhurst

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