New power outages in Ukraine due to airstrikes

"Emergency and restoration work is being carried out wherever the security situation allows," it said. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, the state utility Ukrenergo ordered emergency shutdowns due to previous damage to the grid.

Drone strikes were also reported from Lviv and Kiev and from cities close to the frontline such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. The new power outages show just how weakened Ukraine's energy supply has become. With 82 drones, as counted by the Ukrainian air force, the Russian attack was one of the weakest in recent weeks.

Since the beginning of October, Russia has fired on 11 hydropower plants, the 45 largest electricity and heating power plants in Ukraine, 49 pure heating power plants and 151 substations, according to the SBU intelligence service. The systematic attacks on the power grid are to be legally classified as crimes against humanity due to their impact on the civilian population.

Power grid in Kiev still in emergency mode

According to the Ministry of Energy, the situation remains most difficult in the capital Kiev. "Grid restrictions are in place in the greater Kiev area." It has therefore not yet been possible to switch to planned hourly shutdowns, which offer greater reliability.

The city of three million people has been almost completely paralyzed since a heavy attack last Friday. Electricity, heating and water supplies can only be restored gradually. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has therefore accused Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko of failing to prepare for such emergencies.

Conflict between Selenskyj and Klitschko

Klitschko, Zelenskyi's rival in the 2019 presidential election, spoke of "uninterrupted hatred" on the part of the leadership. In almost four years of war, the president had not even spoken to him, he complained.

According to the energy ministry, the Odessa region on the Black Sea is also still in a state of emergency shutdown. Russia has been waging a devastating war on neighboring Ukraine since February 2022.