Ongoing major Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have resulted in significant forced power cuts across various regions of Russia ahead of what promises to be a frigid winter.
National grid operator Ukrenergo on Thursday urged consumers to limit usage following the recent attacks of the past 24 hours. The outages have chiefly impacted central Ukraine, as well as Kharkiv region in the east, along with Chernihiv and Sumy in the north.
"Where security conditions currently allow, emergency repair and restoration work is already under way," a statement said.
"Energy workers are doing everything possible to restore power to all disconnected consumers as quickly as possible," it added.
And BBC reports, "Kyiv has been preparing for a renewed onslaught before winter begins, by building fifteen small scale power plants in heavily fortified concrete bunkers."
Another European outlet warns of what this means for residents going into winter:
Kyiv said it was Moscow's opening salvo in an expected campaign to try to knock out heating and power as winter approaches.
A recent increase in strikes has prompted fears about another winter with little or no power or heating, after similar attacks last year when temperatures plunged to -20C.
The strikes which started Wednesday are being called one of the heaviest combined attacks on energy cited in months. Ukrainian officials reported seven people killed as a result.
Ukraine's prime minister Sergii Koretskyi confirmed on X, "Russia has escalated to massive strikes on energy infrastructure." And President Zelensky indicated that critical infrastructure was hit across five regions.
Freezing temperatures are expected to hit the capital region in the coming days, as emergency repair crews scramble - though there's unlikely to be a let-up in the nightly attacks.
Zelensky has lately floated he'd be open to another energy ceasefire deal, and these calls are likely to be renewed; however, it will have to go both ways and the Ukrainians have also been unrelenting in their long-range drone attacks on Russian territory and oil refineries.
Russian forces have also of late been systematically degrading and destroying data centers and mobile providers in Ukraine. Internet connectivity has become a problem throughout various sectors of the country.
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