Ukrainian citizens have been enduring nationwide scheduled power outages so repairs could be made to damaged or destroyed energy plants from Russian strikes as winter approaches, Reuters reports.
People across Ukraine were urged to use less power as the government enforced curbs on electricity usage between 7am and 11pm on Thursday.
Related article: Russian spies launch cyberattack on Ukraine’s grid
The first such restrictions since Russia’s February 24 invasion included blackouts in some areas, and followed a barrage of Russian strikes that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said had struck a third of all power plants.
The northeast region of Sumy went without water as some grocery stores in the capital Kyiv reported sales of bottled water picking up in preparation for possible shortages.
“There is much anger against Russian leaders and Russian people,” said Mikhaylo Holovnenko, a resident of Kyiv.
“But we are ready for outages. We have candles, charged power banks. Ukraine is charged to win.”
Russia’s defence ministry said it was again targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, a strategy it has stepped up since the appointment this month of Sergei Surovikin—nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media—as commander of what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
In two video addresses on Thursday, Zelenskiy, without providing evidence, accused Russia of preparing to cause a large-scale disaster in southern Ukraine.
Ukraine has information that Russian forces have mined the dam and units of the Kakhovska hydroelectric power station, Zelenskiy asserted, adding that 80 settlements, including the strategic city of Kherson, could experience rapid flooding.
Zelenskiy said that if Russia “is seriously considering such a scenario, it means that the terrorists are very clearly aware that they cannot hold not only Kherson, but also the entire south of our country, including Crimea.”
The Ukrainian military continued to try to press its advance towards Kherson, the only regional capital Russian forces have captured.
Related article: Fire quashed at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
The Russian-appointed administration on Wednesday told civilians to leave the city—control of which gives Russia a land route to Crimea and the mouth of the Dnipro river.
Kherson residents were shown on footage taken by Russian media gathered at the city river port waiting in long queues to board boats to get to the left, eastern bank of the Dnipro River which bisects Ukraine.
