Kyiv, Ukraine
Reuters
Ukraine’s power grid operator said on Tuesday severe winter weather left more than 1,000 towns and villages without electricity in nine regions and urged residents to conserve power as the energy system has been weakened by Russian strikes.
Electricity consumption was at this week’s highest levels as temperatures fell to about -15 degrees Celsius in many parts of the country, grid operator Ukrenergo said.
Investigators work next to damaged cars at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on 8th January, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Stringer/File photo
“The consumption level continues to grow due to the considerable drop in temperature across the country,” it said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that electricity consumption in the morning was already 5.8 per cent higher than the day before.
“As of this morning due to bad weather – strong winds, ice power was cut off in 1,025 settlements.”
The weather caused significant damage to distribution networks with strong winds, frost, and a thick layer of ice on equipment, which delayed repair works, Ukrenergo said.
Vitaliy Kim, Governor of southern Mykolaiv region where 215 towns and villages have been cut off from electricity, said ice on electricity cables was over five centimetres thick.
Ukrenergo said the power system was already working at maximum capacity and urged residents to save electricity as much as possible and avoid using several electrical appliances simultaneously to help the system cope.
“Currently, electricity is enough to supply all commercial and household consumers. But a big increase in consumption creates an additional load on power plants, which are already operating at maximum, and they need to increase generation very quickly and considerably and that can lead to technological disruptions,” Ukrenergo said.
Ukraine had to import electricity from neighbouring Romania and Slovakia to be able to meet the demand, it said.
Ukrenergo said that Ukranian thermal power plants were still recovering from last winter’s massive Russian strikes and solar power plants could not work at full capacity due to dense clouds and bad weather.
Last winter Russia targeted the Ukrainian power system with thousands of missiles and drones, causing frequent blackouts for millions of people.
Thermal power stations accounted for about a third of all electricity produced in Ukraine before the war.
Ukrenergo also reported more damage to electricity networks in Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions which are near to the frontline and within the reach of artillery shelling.
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Meanwhile, a woman was killed in Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Kursk region and drones struck a fuel facility in the neighbouring region of Oryol, the two regions’ governors said on Tuesday, amid an escalation of cross-border attacks.
In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app, Kursk region Governor Roman Starovoit said a woman had been killed by shelling in the village of Gornal, near the border with Ukraine.
At least five drones were shot down over the Kursk region on Tuesday, Starovoit and Russia’s defence ministry said.
The Governor of Oryol region, Andrei Klychkov, said two drones had hit a fuel facility, injuring three and causing a fire that was later extinguished. He said three drones had been shot shown.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Klychkov called the events “an enemy attack”.
Later the Governor of the nearby Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, and the defence ministry reported the destruction of another drone, without providing any details.
Russian border regions have repeatedly come under fire from Ukraine in recent months. On 30th December, at least 20 people were killed in a missile strike on the city of Belgorod, 40 kilometres from Ukraine, Russian media said.
Russia has also recently fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, including some far behind the frontline, Ukrainian officials have said.
In the latest strike this week, Russia fired 51 missiles of various types, killing at least four people and hitting civilian infrastructure, they said.
