Ukrainians told to brace themselves for winter amid Russian energy strikes

KYIV - Ukrainians should be prepared for power outages this autumn and winter as Russian forces continue to target the country’s energy infrastructure, a top energy provider warned on Sept 8.

Since invading Ukraine in 2022,

Russia has been sending barrages of drones and missiles at the country’s energy sites, causing temporary blackouts across the country.

In previous winters, millions of people were plunged into darkness, with Ukraine regularly announcing hours-long power cuts to ration electricity.

“Of course, no one knows what will happen this autumn, but given the recent shelling, there is no particular cause for optimism,” the chief executive of Ukraine’s Yasno energy provider, Mr Sergiy Kovalenko, said Sept 8.

Russia launched its biggest-ever aerial assault on Ukraine in the early hours of Sept 7, killing several people and setting a government building ablaze in Kyiv for the first time in the 3½ year war.

Mr Kovalenko said Ukrainians should “stock up on power banks and flashlights” and be prepared for extended outages.

Earlier on Sept 8, Ukraine’s energy ministry said a power station in the Kyiv region had come “under massive shelling”.

“The goal is obvious: to cause even more hardship to the peaceful population of Ukraine, to leave Ukrainian homes, hospitals, kindergartens and schools without light and heat,” the ministry said on Telegram.

Russia also attacked a “critical infrastructure” facility in the north-eastern Sumy region, the regional power operator Sumyoblenergo posted on Telegram. AFP