Nationwide curbs on electricity usage came into force across Ukraine early on Thursday, after more than a week of Russian aerial attacks have pummelled the country’s energy infrastructure and prompted rolling blackouts.
Ukraine’s energy system has suffered more attacks over the past 10 days than during the previous eight months of the war, according to Ukrenergo, the country’s electric utility.
The belt-tightening comes after President Zelensky said that Russian assaults had knocked out a third of the country’s power stations over the past week, just as the weather is beginning to turn colder, raising fears that the strikes on vital services could set off a humanitarian crisis.
