Ukraine battled Sunday to restore power to tens of thousands of people left without heating in bitterly cold temperatures after a week ofintense Russian attacksthat have brought the country'senergy infrastructureto its knees.
In Kyiv, heating was restored to about 85% of apartment buildings a day after the entire city lost power, heat and water on Saturday. But more than 1,000 buildings remained without heating, the city's mayor Vitali Klitschko said. with daytime temperatures down to –10C (14F).
Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Russia had targeted energy infrastructure every day for the past week astemperatures plummeted.
"The enemy deliberately targeted heat-generating facilities with ballistic missiles. The situation was further complicated by difficult weather conditions and a significant drop in temperature," she said in a statement.
"We understand that the lack of light and heat is a difficult test, especially in the cold. Therefore, our key task is to restore basic living conditions for people as quickly as possible."
Mobile shelters have been set up in the capital, offering spaces where locals can warm up, recharge their phones and other devices and drink warm tea, according to the state emergency service.
Nonetheless, residents spoke of the huge challenges of living without power in the depths of winter.
Halyna Turchyn had managed to source gas cannisters so she could cook for the first time since losing power. "Today, we will cook something to eat, because we haven't cooked anything for two days," she told CNN in her kitchen in Kyiv.
Galina Turchin, a 71-year-old retiree, had wrapped herself in layers of jumpers to try to stay warm in her apartment, where one window had recently been shattered by debris from a Russian drone and was covered only by a plastic sheet.
"We hope they will give us heat. If not power, then at least heat," she told Reuters, adding that she had not cooked food for two days and eaten only leftovers from her kitchen.
Russia hasrepeatedly targetedUkraine's energy infrastructure since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022, using waves of missiles and drones to cripple power generation in an apparent effort to erode morale and hit the economy.
On average, Kyiv residents had no electricity for 9.5 hours a day in December as the energy system struggled to cope with winter demand. Elevators in apartment blocks stopped working, trapping elderly residents in their homes, and people have become used to the loud hum of generators.
"This was one of the most massive attacks on the capital's energy infrastructure, occurring precisely during a period of deteriorating weather conditions," said Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy prime minister for restoration of Ukraine, on Sunday.
This week's strikes came as the conflict grinds through its fourth winter, plunging cities into prolonged energy blackouts while temperatures dip well below freezing and are forecast to drop further.
On Saturday, Ukraine's national electricity grid operator,Ukrenergo, ordered an emergency power cut to be implemented in Kyiv and the surrounding region to repair the heavily damaged system.
Russian strikes overnight on Saturday into Sunday knocked out power in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. By Sunday morning, more than 13,000 people in Zaporizhzhia were without supply, according to Ukraine's energy ministry.
Power to nearly 700,000 consumers was lost over the past seven days before it was eventually restored, Svyrydenko said. While power supplies were brought back in Kyiv in "record time," she warned that the situation would be precarious for a while.
Homes where power has been restored are still subject to scheduled power blackouts, which in Kyiv currently last for around eight hours.
Klitschko has warned that the energy supply system in Ukraine's capital remains "very difficult" despite restoration works.
Some villages on the outskirts of the capital have been without electricity for four days and people have taken to the streets to block roads in protest.
"Before the strike, it was good, normal warmth," one man, Serhii Przhistovskiy, told CNN. "Until they turn the heating back on, I'll have to sleep in my clothes."
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