Ukraine: day after day, the country is fighting to restore its electricity

The city of kyiv (district on the banks of the Dnieper) in almost complete darkness, on the evening of December 16.

© RFI / Stéphane Siohan

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Ukraine is trying to restore its electricity, after the intense Russian bombardments yesterday, Friday, December 16, which affected electrical infrastructure in kyiv, plunging part of the country into darkness.

This Saturday morning, a third of the inhabitants of the Ukrainian capital wake up without water or heating.

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This is a new example 

of "the blind terror of the Kremlin 

" for Joseph Borrell, the head of European diplomacy.

France speaks of a “

 war crime 

”.

New indignation, therefore, after the intense bombardments of Friday, December 16: Russia fired 74 missiles in the direction of Ukraine.

Sixty of them were able to be intercepted, but the damage is considerable, with kyiv and many regions suffering water and electricity cuts.

ghostly allure

In the evening, in Kiev, the large masses of suburban buildings on the left bank of the Dnieper took on a truly ghostly appearance, under continual showers of freezing snow, while almost no apartment was lit, writes our correspondent in Kiev,

Stéphane Siohan

.

For 24 hours, several regions have been completely deprived of power: Kharkiv, Poltava, Kropyvnytski, while the human toll is very high: on Friday, ten civilians lost their lives throughout Ukraine, following these strikes of increasingly frequent missiles.

Across the country, engineers and repair crews are trying to restore power as quickly as possible.

“ 

It will take time but it will be done

 ,” promised Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian president repeated that the targets today were civilians: “

Russian strikes mainly affect energy and heating supply facilities 

”.

New sanctions package 

Since October and the Ukrainian counter-offensive, which ended in military setbacks for Moscow, Russia has been carrying out massive strikes on the country's electricity grid, plunging millions of civilians into darkness and cold.

Yesterday, the European Union voted a new package of sanctions against Russia, among other things, freezing the assets of Russian banks.

►Also read

: Ukraine: strikes still cause water and power cuts

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  • Ukraine

  • Russia

  • Defense

  • Energies

  • Volodymyr Zelensky