‘Stack the blankets’: Ukraine prepares for harsh winter amid Russian bombing

Nearly nine months after the Russian invasion, Ukraine is preparing for a harsh scenario full of blackouts that could last until March, according to one of the country’s energy managers, as the population prepared for winter after weeks of continuous Russian attacks on its electricity grid.

The private power company DTEK Yasno has received instructions from the state-owned grid operator of resume emergency breaks in its business areas, including the capital Kyiv and the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, the company’s chief executive officer Sergey Kovalenko said in a Facebook post.

“Even though there are fewer blackouts now, I want everyone to understand: most Ukrainians are likely to have to live with blackouts at least until the end of March”, warned Kovalenko.

“I think we need to be prepared for different options, even the worst ones. Stock up on warm clothes, blankets, think about what would help you endure a long blackout” he said in a message to the people of Ukraine.

The electricity grid, a constant target of Russia

For weeks, Russia has been hitting Ukraine’s energy grid and other infrastructure from the air. That crackdown caused widespread power outages and left millions without electricity, water or heat.

Sub-zero temperatures are common during winter in the country. Authorities have started evacuating civilians from newly liberated areas in the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv, fearing it will be difficult to survive the winter.

Kovalenko added that even if there were no more Russian attacks, planned power outages across the country would be needed to ensure power was evenly distributed over the battered grid.

Russian missiles they damaged more than 50% of the country’s energy facilitiesThis was stated by President Volodimir Zelensky and the World Health Organization has warned that millions of people face a winter that could endanger their lives.

The tussle for territory has continued despite worsening weather, with Ukrainian forces pressing on Russian positions as part of the counter-offensive launched several weeks ago, while Moscow forces maintain their rocket and artillery strikes.

In a crucial battlefield milestone, a Ukrainian official acknowledged that Kiev forces are attacking Russian positions at Cape Kinburn, which gives access to the Black Sea and parts of the Kherson region that remain under Russian control.

Despite the information blackout on the campaign, Natalya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Army’s Southern Operational Command, said in televised statements that Ukrainian forces ‘continue military operation’ in the area.

The tip of the Kinburn Peninsula is the last remaining Russian outpost in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, west of Kherson. Ukrainian forces recently liberated other areas in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.

Moscow used that place as missile attack base and artillery against Ukrainian positions in Mikolaiv province and other Kiev-controlled locations on the Black Sea coast.

In a major breakthrough, Ukraine recently retook the city of Kherson, on the west bank of the Dnieper River, and its environs.

The capture of Cape Kinburn could help push Ukrainian forces into territory Russia still controls in the Kherson region.”under significantly less fire from Russian artillery”about what an attempt to directly cross the Dnieper River would mean, a Washington-based think tank said Monday evening.

The Institute for the Study of War He added that control of the area would help Kiev reduce Russian attacks on southern Ukrainian ports and allow it to increase its naval activity in the Black Sea.

For their part, the Ukrainian authorities reported on Tuesday morning at least eight civilians killed and 16 wounded in the previous 24 hoursin which Moscow has once again used drones, rockets and heavy artillery to punish eight regions of Ukraine.

At least 16,784 civilians have been killed and 10,189 injured since Russia invaded the neighboring country on February 24, according to estimates by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In Donetsk to the east, heavy fighting continued around the town of Bakhmut, where Kremlin forces were seeking a resounding victory after weeks of embarrassing military setbacks.

Russia has fired missiles in the city of Kramatorsk, where the local headquarters of the Ukrainian army is located, and in the strategic city of Avdiivka, the governor of the region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said in statements on Ukrainian television.

The region it had no power or communicationsHe added.

The Ukrainian president’s office also reported one killed and three wounded in Russian attacks on the city of Kherson, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces on 10 November.

PA agency

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