.
Winter in Kyiv. Photo: Reuters (file)
KYIV:
More than 1,000 apartment buildings in Kyiv remain without heating following a devastating Russian attack earlier this week, local authorities said on Sunday.
Since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has steadily intensified strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that over the past week, Russia had launched 1,100 drones, more than 890 guided aerial bombs, and over 50 missiles, including ballistic, cruise, and medium-range weapons.
On Friday, a missile strike on Kyiv left virtually the entire city without power and heating amid a sharp cold snap. Authorities were only able to partially restore electricity and heating and resume water supplies by Sunday.
Zelenskiy accused Russia of deliberately waiting for freezing temperatures to maximise civilian suffering, calling it “a cynical Russian terror specifically against civilians.” Moscow had no immediate response.
The war’s fourth winter could prove the coldest yet. Accumulated damage to Ukraine’s energy grid has pushed utilities to the brink, with temperatures already below minus 12 degrees Celsius (10.4 F) expected to plunge further to minus 20 degrees (-4 F) later this week.
“Restoration work is ongoing. However, the energy supply situation in the capital remains very difficult,” Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on Telegram. “According to forecasts, the severe frosts are not expected to subside in the coming days. Therefore, the difficult situation in the capital will continue.”
Ukraine’s energy ministry said Russian forces struck the country’s power system again overnight, briefly cutting electricity to the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
