Kyiv only getting 4-6 hours of electricity a day in February after relentless Russian strikes

The Ukrainian capital will only benefit from four to six hours of electricity per day in February, after relentless Russian strikes decimated key parts of the country’s energy infrastructure.

This week, a massive attack – the largest on Ukraine’s power grid since the start of the year – targeted two key substations, including one in kyiv.

“These strikes were particularly devastating,” said Stanislav Ihnatiev, chairman of the board of directors of the Ukrainian Renewable Energy Association, in an interview with Ukrainian media outlet Telegraf. “It is these installations that ensure the distribution of large quantities of electricity on a national scale.

“The damage to substations of this class is not a local accident, but a strategic blow to the entire energy system.”

The attack came amid a deadly cold snap that plunged temperatures to -13 degrees, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian strongman Vladimir Putin of tactically agreeing to suspend strikes for a few days – only to stockpile weapons to launch an even bigger attack on one of the coldest days of winter.

“They postponed the strike, increased the number of missiles and drones and struck during the coldest days,” Zelensky said.

Four years after its invasion began, Moscow has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s already struggling energy grid, frequently plunging millions of people into darkness and cold for hours.

With attacks so frequent, authorities have been unable to fully repair infrastructure, forcing them to introduce emergency power cuts during what has been the coldest winter Ukraine has seen in a decade.

kyiv, like many other cities in the war-torn country, was already under a schedule of power cuts, with residents often going without power for long periods.

This latest estimate, however, is the gloomiest to date. Ihnatiev said restoring some unique equipment in the power grid would take months or even years.