MILAN: Around 1,700 apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv were still without heating following a Russian missile and drone attack earlier this week, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Sunday.
Moscow has sharply intensified bombardments of Ukraine’s energy system since it invaded its neighbor in 2022.
Russia launched a vast attack on Ukraine’s energy system on Saturday, rocking Kyiv with explosions overnight, leaving 1.2 million properties without power countrywide during sub-zero winter temperatures.
“Russia’s main targets right now are our energy sector, critical infrastructure, and residential buildings,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X.
This week alone, he said Russia had launched more than 1,700 attack drones, over 1,140 guided aerial bombs and 69 missiles on Ukraine.
Every massive attack by Russia could have a devastating impact, said Zelenskyy, who on Sunday visited Lithuania.
“We are working with every leader to strengthen Ukraine. Everyone must clearly understand the threat coming from Russia,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Saturday that more than 3,200 of Kyiv’s buildings were without heating late that evening, down from 6,000 in the morning.
“Since yesterday evening, utility workers and energy companies have restored heat supply to more than 1,600 buildings. They are continuing to work to restore services to the homes of Kyiv residents,” Klitschko said on Telegram. The large-scale attack on the Ukrainian capital took place just as Ukrainian, Russian and American negotiators were discussing options in Abu Dhabi for ending the war. More than 160 emergency crews were operating in the capital to restore heating, he said. Crews were also at work in other affected areas, mainly in western and southern Ukraine.
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, writing on Telegram after the daily meeting of officials devoted to energy, said more than 800,000 Kyiv households were still without power as were a further 400,000 in Chernihiv region, north of the capital.
“As for power, constant enemy attacks unfortunately keep the situation from being stabilized,” he wrote.
Many residents’ apartments were already freezing cold from disruption to Kyiv’s centralised heat distribution system following previous attacks.
