After attack on infrastructure: Water and electricity restored in Ukraine

After yesterday’s blackouts, the power grid in Ukraine is said to be working again. Districts of Kyiv and other regions are still cut off from electricity and water supplies. Doctors Without Borders warn of the consequences.

According to official information, the pan-Ukrainian power grid is intact again after the massive blackouts of the previous day. “In fact, all areas of Ukraine are supplied with electricity,” said the deputy head of the presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, on television.

However, that does not mean that all households will have electricity again. Tymoshenko did not explain how many Ukrainians will actually be supplied with electricity again. As it was said, electricity and water cannot be obtained in many parts of the country. There was also no new information from the state-owned utility Ukrenerho as to whether the power grid had switched from emergency shutdowns to scheduled shutdowns.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said more than two-thirds of Kyiv were still without water supplies, although city workers were able to repair parts of the water supply during the night.

Russia denies responsibility

On Wednesday, Kyiv again reported fierce Russian rocket attacks on important infrastructure in the capital Kyiv. In total, Russia fired around 70 cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Kamikaze drones were also used. At least ten people were killed in the shelling and 50 others were injured, local media quoted the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office as saying.

Russia denied any responsibility for the destruction in the capital. “Not a single blow” was struck inside Kiev, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Any destruction is the result of missiles fired from “foreign and Ukrainian air defense systems” from populated areas of the Ukrainian capital. However, the ministry spoke of “massive blows” to the “military leadership of Ukraine” and “related energy facilities”.

Temperatures in the city are around freezing point these days. President Zelenskyy condemned the attacks, which hit Ukrainian citizens in the cold: “When we have temperatures below zero and millions of people without electricity, without heating and without water, it is a blatant crime against humanity,” he said in his Video address to the UN Security Council in New York.

Shutdowns in Kharkiv

According to the local regional governor, there were also electricity problems and “emergency power shutdowns” in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city in the east of the country. Meanwhile, Dmytro Lunin, governor of the central Poltava region, said: “In the coming hours we will start to provide power to critical infrastructure and then to the majority of households.” About half of the Dnipropetrovsk region, which is also in the center, has electricity, said its governor Valentin Resnichenko. He warned that there would be shutdowns to relieve the power grid.

Repair work was also carried out in other parts of the country, including the Rivne, Cherkasy, Kirovograd and Zhytomir regions. “So many victims, so many houses destroyed,” 52-year-old Iryna Schyrokova told the AFP news agency in Vyshgorod outside of Kiev. “People have no place to live, no place to sleep. It’s cold. I can’t explain it. What for? We’re human too,” she said.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Andrej Spinu, neighboring Moldova, which is already struggling with significant energy problems due to the war, experienced “massive power outages” after the attacks. The country borders Ukraine and is connected to the Ukrainian electricity grid.

Doctors Without Borders warning

According to “Doctors Without Borders”, the massive power outages are endangering millions of civilians in the country. Thousands of people already living in war-torn homes are now facing temperatures that could reach as low as minus 20 degrees in parts of Ukraine, said the aid organization’s country coordinator in Ukraine, Christopher Stokes.

“Power and water outages will also affect people’s access to healthcare as hospitals and health centers will struggle to function,” Stokes said.

Lührmann announces winter aid package

The Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Anna Lührmann (Greens), described the Russian rocket attacks as “state terrorism”. “It’s very clear that Putin is doing everything to ensure that Ukraine sinks into the cold and darkness in winter,” she told Deutsche Welle during a visit to Ukraine.

She announced a winter aid package from the federal government of more than 55 million euros. “We support schools with reconstruction and other measures to help people get through the winter to some extent. But it will be tough,” said the Minister of State.