Planned power outages in Ukraine began in October, earlier than last winter, and are lasting longer. Meanwhile, Russia has intensified its attacks on the country’s energy grid. In Kyiv, some families are living with outages of up to 20 hours a day, part of the energy crisis in Ukraine that is affecting millions of people.
Officials express concern that life could quickly become unsustainable for millions of Ukrainians if the power supply cannot be maintained for at least four hours a day. Some privately warn that this threshold is close to being crossed. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians across the country have been left without electricity in recent weeks.
Ukraine has responded by attacking Russian oil refineries. The capital has been hit hardest: its metro trains and trolleybuses have at times been brought to a halt. Darkness covers whole neighborhoods, houses and streets, while Ukraine faces a critical winter without power.
