One million families without heating: Details of the power outage in Ukraine
In a new escalation of the humanitarian crisis gripping Ukraine as winter sets in, a Ukrainian minister announced on Thursday that more than one million families in the central Dnipropetrovsk region are living in darkness and without access to water and heating as temperatures plummet. This severe deterioration in basic services follows a series of intense Russian nighttime airstrikes that directly targeted energy infrastructure, reflecting a continued strategy of targeting vital networks.
Details of the attack and damage to infrastructure
Ukraine's national energy company, Ukrenergo, reported that infrastructure in the southern regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia suffered a night of intense bombing by Russian drones. The attack caused significant damage and widespread power outages, directly impacting water pumping stations and central heating systems that rely on electricity.
Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction, explained via social media that emergency teams are working around the clock in a race against time. "Repair work is continuing in the Dnipropetrovsk region to restore heating and water services to more than one million subscribers," Kuleba said. He also noted the success of technical teams in restoring electricity in the Zaporizhzhia region, where heating and water services continue to be provided to residents, highlighting the disparity in the extent of damage between the affected areas.
"Winter War" strategy and targeting energy
This attack is not an isolated incident, but rather the latest in a series of military strategies employed by Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian forces have consistently targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure using a combination of drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles. These attacks typically intensify as winter approaches, a tactic observers refer to as "winter warfare," where power outages in sub-zero temperatures are intended to demoralize the population and sow discord on the home front.
The energy company Detek confirmed that power had been restored to some critical infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk, reiterating its commitment to doing everything possible to bring electricity back to homes. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Vladislav Gayvanenko had stated that a vital facility supplying electricity to much of the region had sustained significant damage, explaining the widespread outage.
Humanitarian and economic repercussions
Targeting power grids has repercussions that extend far beyond mere power outages; it threatens a humanitarian and health catastrophe. Disruptions to water and heating supplies during the bitter cold expose vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly, to serious health risks. Furthermore, the repeated nature of these attacks places immense pressure on the Ukrainian economy, forcing the state to allocate substantial resources to repair the frequently damaged infrastructure, in addition to the impact of power outages on industrial and productive sectors.
Ukraine is striving to strengthen its air defenses to protect these vital facilities, and is constantly appealing to its international allies to provide it with advanced defense systems and power generators to meet these growing challenges, in light of a long-term war of attrition targeting the basic necessities of life for citizens.
