After Russia launched one of its biggest missile attacks since the start of the Ukraine war, Ukraine’s national energy provider Ukrenergo warned citizens on Friday (Dec 16) that it may take longer to restore electricity. and that power outages can be prolonged. Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian power grid once again. This worsened already dire conditions for Ukrainians and led to charges of “war crimes” by the European Union.
The strikes have cut off electricity and water services in several regions of a country already enduring temperatures close to freezing point.
“Priority will be given to critical infrastructure: hospitals, water supply facilities, heat supply facilities, sewage treatment plants,” Ukrenergo said in a statement on Friday.
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Residents of the capital clad in winter coats crammed into underground metro stations after air-raid sirens blared early Friday — the ninth wave of Russian airstrikes since October.
“I woke up, I saw a rocket in the sky,” said 25-year-old Kyiv resident Lada Korovai. “I saw it and I understood that I have to go to the subway.”
“We live in this situation. It is a war, it is a real war,” he told AFP.
Russia attacked Ukraine in February of this year. After territorial gains in the first months of the war, Russian forces had to withdraw in the face of a counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces. Russia has then resorted to carrying out missile attacks on Ukraine. Ukraine’s power grid is severely damaged. Russia claims it has only attacked ‘military-linked’ energy infrastructure.
(With contributions from agencies)
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