KYIV: Ukraine began curbing electricity consumption on Thursday as it raced to carry out repairs on infrastructure destroyed by Russian bombing as winter approaches.
Energy-saving measures were put in place across the country after Russian missile and drone strikes destroyed at least 30 percent of the country’s power stations in a week.
Following blackouts in parts of the capital Kyiv overnight, the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko urged businesses to limit screens and signage lights “as much as possible.”
“Even small savings and a reduction in electricity consumption in every home will help stabilize the operation of the national energy system,” he said on social media.
Ukrainians have responded defiantly to the attacks.
“It’s not going to change our attitude, maybe we will only hate them more,” said Olga, 22, a resident of Dnipro in central Ukraine.
“I would rather sit in the cold, with no water and electricity than be in Russia,” she said.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February and quickly seized more than 20 percent of the country but has lost ground after a series of battlefield defeats in recent weeks.
Moscow has retaliated by annexing the areas it holds and launching a wave of strikes on energy facilities, including with what Kyiv and Western powers said are Iranian drones.
Russia and Iran have denied the use of such drones in Ukraine but the EU on Thursday imposed sanctions on three Iranian generals and an arms firm accused of supplying them.
“This is our clear response to the Iranian regime providing Russia with drones, which it uses to murder innocent Ukrainian citizens,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala tweeted.
Russian foreign ministry spokesman said the West was seeking to put “pressure” on Tehran, while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the “prompt action” from Brussels.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russia’s “scorched earth” attacks only strengthened the Western alliance against Moscow.
But Russian lawmaker Andrey Gurulev told state television the attacks were “extremely effective” and would “collapse” Ukraine.
In his nightly address Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of energy “terror.”
After a meeting with energy companies, he said preparations were under way “for all possible scenarios with a view to winter.”
The government was “working on the creation of mobile power supply points for critical infrastructure,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also on Wednesday declared martial law in four annexed areas and heightened security in Russian regions bordering Ukraine.
The move came after Kremlin proxies in the Russian-occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine said they were leaving the area in the face of a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Moscow-installed officials also said they would be organizing an “evacuation” of tens of thousands of civilians from the area.
The region’s main city, also called Kherson, has been in Moscow’s hands since the earliest days of the invasion.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, denounced Moscow’s move as criminal.
“Putin’s martial law in the annexed regions of Ukraine is preparation for the mass deportation of the Ukrainian population to depressed areas of Russia in order to change the ethnic composition of the occupied territory,” Danilov said.
Pro-Russian officials in the town of Oleshky across the Dnieper said residents from Kherson city were already arriving.
Russia’s Rossiya 24 TV showed images of people waiting to board ferries, unable to use bridges damaged by Ukraine.
Ukraine’s resilience has won plaudits internationally and the European Parliament on Wednesday awarded the annual Sakharov Prize for human rights to “brave” Ukrainians.
The award was welcomed by Natalya Boykiv, an engineer, walking in Kyiv city center.
“We deserve it,” said.
“The world should see who Ukrainians are. Thanks to this we attract the world’s attention,” the 24-year-old added.
Meanwhile, in parts of Ukraine recently recaptured from Russian forces, repairs were under way before the onset of winter. Many residents there are still depending on humanitarian aid.
“Apart from this, nothing is working,” said Ivan Zakharchenko, a 70-year-old resident of Izyum queueing for aid in the square where Zelensky celebrated the town’s liberation just over a month ago.
Ukraine curbs electricity use after Russian strikes
https://arab.news/zw4p6
Ukraine curbs electricity use after Russian strikes
- Energy-saving measures were put in place across the country after Russian missile and drone strikes
- Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko urged businesses to limit screens and signage lights "as much as possible"
French volunteer bakes for Ukraine amid frosts and power outages
- The French volunteer, who calls himself a “baker without borders,” wants to help them through an especially cold winter
- Loic works alone and starts early, but he still manages to bake around 700 loaves a day
BORODYANKA, Ukraine: In a truck parked in the Kyiv region, Loic Nervi kneaded the dough vigorously before sliding dozens of tins into the oven — loaves that will later be handed out to Ukrainians.
By making bread, the French volunteer, who calls himself a “baker without borders,” wants to help them through an especially cold winter, marked by repeated power and heating cuts caused by Russian strikes.
Loic works alone and starts early, but he still manages to bake around 700 loaves a day, making locals flock in lines before his white truck.
“I knew there were problems with electricity and heating in Kyiv. It’s the first time I’ve come here and worked here in the Kyiv region and in Kyiv itself,” explained the volunteer, who already did a few missions in Ukraine.
Throughout these trips, he distributed tens of thousands of loaves since the start of the war in 2022, mostly to elderly people who have no support from their families or from the state, Nervi said.
“It’s important to keep supporting (Ukrainians),” the Frenchman told AFP, while admitting that “most French people no longer want to — they’re tired and don’t want to hear about this war anymore.”
“But no, the war is still ongoing,” said the strong-armed baker, sporting a short bristle of beard.
Working in his truck powered by two generators, he makes two main types of bread: a multigrain loaf with sunflower, sesame, poppy and flax seeds, designed to be filling and nutritious, and a soft white sandwich-style bread made with milk, sugar and eggs.
“I travel frequently — so I also leave my family behind, and it’s very hard for them. It’s a sacrifice I make for Ukraine, a personal and family sacrifice,” said Loic.
“But I think it’s worth it, because if everyone only thinks about their own comfort, we won’t move forward,” he added.
Moscow has in recent months conducted a series of massive drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, causing extensive power, water and heating outages.
The attacks, which especially targeted the capital Kyiv, come at a moment of particularly biting temperatures in Ukraine, which have dropped to as low as -20C throughout winter.
Ukraine, for its part, targeted power infrastructure in the Russian border regions and oil refineries across the country.
