Ukraine was weathering a wave of Russian attacks on its power grid and seeing recovering supplies despite Russia’s campaign against key infrastructure, energy operator Ukrenergo said Friday.
After humiliating defeats on the ground, Russia has since October pummelled Ukraine’s energy facilities, leading to power shortages that have left millions in the cold and dark during winter.
“There has been no shortage of electricity in the energy system during the entire working week, and none is expected so far,” Ukrenergo said on the Telegram messenger.
Prime Minister Denys Shmygal added that “for almost a week, there have been no power outages across Ukraine. Four months of terror, thousands of missiles and drones, Russia has spent billions of dollars but is losing again, unable to break Ukraine on the energy front.”
He added, however, that “the attacks do not stop” and repairing the damaged equipment will take “many months”, warning that some regions could still experience power cuts.
The capital Kyiv restored all electric transport after it was stopped for 56 days, the head of the city’s military administration Sergiy Popko said.
In northern Kharkiv, power was restored for 2,000 consumers in the past day, energy minister German Galuschenko said Friday.
Energy workers have raced to restore the system in Ukraine, but emergency shutdowns have become the norm.
“Due to the absence of power shortages, consumption in the regions has not been limited as of today. But shutdowns are possible if consumption increases,” Ukrenergo warned.
Authorities have also implemented scheduled blackouts to hold the power grid together.
Private operator DTEK said “scheduled outages are possible” due to damage Russia inflicted on the network.
Both DTEK and Ukrenergo noted ongoing scheduled outages in the Odesa region.
– No gas, power near frontline –
But in the town of Siversk, near the frontline in eastern Ukraine, Valentina Novikova has no central heating and relies on a wood burner to cook and keep her house warm.
She said she was struggling to insulate the single-storey cottage as all the windows have been blown out by shelling.
“We haven’t had any electricity and gas since May last year because there was a lot of fighting in the area,” the 72-year-old widow told AFP.
Outside Novikova’s house, gas engineer Volodymyr, 55, pulled a sledge through the deep snow to a nearby well and drew water into a battered tin bucket.
He transferred it to a 40-litre (10-gallon) container and dragged it back up the street and across the railway lines to the house he shares with his wife and mother-in-law about one kilometre away.
“The authorities and volunteer agencies bring gas bottles and I’ve got a generator and battery,” he said as he transferred the water into smaller containers to use for drinking, cooking and washing.
“There’s no promises from the authorities,” he said when asked when he expected the power to be restored in Siversk, which has been extensively bombed in the fighting.
“Hopefully when the war is over then there will be gas,” he added.
