Additional Coverage:
- Russian winter strike leaves nearly 800K homes without power and heat in Ukraine’s Dnipro region (foxnews.com)
Russian Strikes Plunge Nearly 800,000 Ukrainian Homes into Darkness and Cold
KYIV, Ukraine – A harsh reality gripped nearly 800,000 homes across Ukraine on Thursday morning, as a Russian overnight assault on critical energy infrastructure left them without electricity and heating. The widespread outages, confirmed by the country’s acting energy minister, Artem Nekrasov, have prompted a frantic race by power crews to restore essential services amid freezing temperatures.
Nekrasov, in statements released via the Ukrainian Energy Ministry’s official Telegram channel, reported that the Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions bore the brunt of the Russian strikes, experiencing near-total power loss. “Repair work is ongoing to return light and heat to consumers as soon as possible,” Nekrasov stated, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
While power has since been restored to the Zaporizhzhia region, hundreds of thousands of homes in Dnipro remain without electricity and heat, facing a daunting struggle against the cold. Ukrainian officials have issued a plea to residents, urging them to conserve energy by limiting the use of high-consumption electrical appliances. This measure is crucial to prevent further outages as repair efforts continue.
Adding to the crisis, Nekrasov noted that adverse weather conditions have exacerbated the situation, leaving parts of several other regions, including Chernihiv, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zakarpattia, also grappling with power disruptions.
The timing of these outages is particularly dire, with Kyiv experiencing overnight lows dipping below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks, stating on X, “There is absolutely no military rationale in such strikes on the energy sector and infrastructure that leave people without electricity and heating in wintertime. This is Russia’s war specifically against our people, against life in Ukraine – an attempt to break Ukraine.”
These latest strikes follow closely on the heels of recent diplomatic efforts. Just days prior, President Zelenskyy met in Paris with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, to discuss ongoing strategies to end Russia’s nearly four-year conflict. Zelenskyy indicated that these talks centered on crucial topics such as security guarantees, the monitoring of a potential ceasefire, and the ambitious task of rebuilding Ukraine as part of a comprehensive peace framework.