Half of Ukraine’s energy system crippled, Kyiv could ‘shut down’
KYIV: Russian missile strikes have crippled almost half of Ukraine’s energy system, the government said on Friday, and authorities in the capital Kyiv warned that the city could face a “complete shutdown” of the power grid as winter sets in.
With temperatures falling and Kyiv seeing its first snow, officials were working to restore power nationwide after some of the heaviest bombardment of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure in nine months of war.
The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian disaster in Ukraine this winter due to power and water shortages.
“Unfortunately Russia continues to carry out missile strikes on Ukraine’s civilian and critical infrastructure. Almost half of our energy system is disabled,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. He was speaking at a joint news conference with a vicepresident of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, who offered Ukraine the 27-nation bloc’s “unwavering support”.
Engineers have been racing to repair the power grid in Kyiv.
“We are preparing for different scenarios, including a complete shutdown,” Mykola Povoroznyk, deputy head of the Kyiv city administration, said in televised comments.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier about 10 million people were without power in a country with a prewar population of about 44 million. He said authorities in some areas ordered forced emergency blackouts.
Over 400 children killed
At least 437 Ukrainian children have been killed as a result of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said on Saturday.
More than 837 children have also been injured in a tally officials said was “not final” because they were still verifying information from zones of active fighting, liberated areas and territory still occupied by Russian forces.