As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to rage in its 9th month, relentless Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have made blackouts frequent in many cities, including the capital city of Kyiv. According to a recent New York Times report, Kyiv authorities are now considering evacuating the entire population.
Kyiv is reportedly planning a total electricity blackout as Russian attacks have badly hit its power supply infra. Kyiv’s mayor has stated that residents of the city should be prepared for evacuation.
As they struggle to maintain an electricity grid damaged by Russian missiles, officials in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, say they have begun planning for a once unthinkable possibility: a complete blackout, with the evacuation of about three million residents. https://t.co/YX7aWDo6ur
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 5, 2022
Speaking to NYT, Roman Tkachuk, the director of security for Kyiv’s municipal government stated, “We understand that if Russia continues such attacks, we may lose our entire electricity system.”
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, had recently confirmed on Telegram that the city has plans for total evacuation in place in case of total blackout and the residents must be prepared. “If you have relatives or friends in the suburbs who have a separate water supply, a stove and heating, plan to stay there temporarily,” he had added.
On Sunday evening, stabilisation blackouts in Kyiv and nearby regions left about 4.5 million people without power. As a harsh winter approaches, the blackouts bring a grim situation for Ukrainians as they are left without water, heating and sanitation systems.
"If there's no power, there will be no water and no sewage. That's why the government and city administration is taking all possible measures to protect our power supply system," said Roman Tkachuk, the director of security for the Kyiv municipal government.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) November 6, 2022
“If there’s no power, there will be no water and no sewage. That’s why the government and city administration is taking all possible measures to protect our power supply system,” Roman Tkachuk was quoted as saying.
Kyiv is also planning to set up heating shelters where people will be able to charge their phones, drink tea and get warm for some time. Over 1000 generators have been purchased for this purpose, Klitschko said.
For weeks now, Kyiv residents have been living under blackouts as the city struggles to fix damaged power stations and manage its existing infra. Blackouts sometimes last for over 12 hours.
Crimea bridge attack and Russia’s retaliation against Ukrainian power infra
Russia has been hitting Ukrainian cities with missiles for nearly a month now, after the October 8 attack on the Kerch bridge that connects the Russian mainland to Crimea. Merely a day after the explosion at the crucial bridge, Russia had started hitting Ukrainian cities with missiles, a significant escalation in the war that had hitherto been limited to the Donbas region and military areas.
