Post a Comment Print Share on Facebook

Cold and darkness as a "weapon" - Kyiv prepares for bitter winter

When the power goes out, Anastasia Pyroshenko's apartment in Kyiv feels like a death trap: no lights, no water - and no elevator to flee from the 21st floor to the street if a Russian missile hits her.

- 5 reads.

Cold and darkness as a "weapon" - Kyiv prepares for bitter winter

When the power goes out, Anastasia Pyroshenko's apartment in Kyiv feels like a death trap: no lights, no water - and no elevator to flee from the 21st floor to the street if a Russian missile hits her.

"The Russian attacks are plunging Ukraine into the Stone Age," says Pyroshenko. The power often goes out in her 26-story high-rise building. And once he's there, he doesn't stay long. Under such conditions, Pyroshenko says, life in her apartment was unbearable. "Our building is the tallest in the area and a popular target for Russian missiles," explains the 25-year-old. "So we left our apartment and moved in with our parents where we are preparing for the worst winter of our lives."

The situation in Kyiv and other major cities has deteriorated drastically since last week's massive rocket attack on Ukraine's power grid. The state Ukrainian network operator Ukrenerho reports problems for 40 percent of the population and damage to at least 15 important distribution centers. Thousands of kilometers of important high-voltage lines are out of order.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured that work was being done day and night to restore the networks and supplies. Nevertheless, the prospects for the bitterly cold season are depressing.

The blackouts could last hours to days, Ukrenerho warned, posting a picture of a destroyed substation. Dozens of such systems and installations are affected, it said, and these cannot be replaced quickly. "Resilience and courage" are needed this winter.

The Mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, is also preparing people for a hard winter. "Worst case scenario - I don't really want to talk about it, but I have to be prepared if we have no electricity, blackouts, no water, no heating, no utilities and no communications," he told the news agency AP.

A sharp drop in temperature and the first snow have further aggravated the situation in Kyiv. The cold is forcing people to turn on their heaters, putting far more strain on the electricity grid and compounding shortages. With a view to the sub-zero temperatures, the city has now announced heat points for the population. 528 emergency heaters are to be set up for the three million city. It is said that people can warm up here, drink tea, charge phones and get further help.

"We have prepared and asked our partners for power generators, which they will send to us," says Mayor Klitschko. "We have a supply of diesel and oil just in case." Many residents of the Ukrainian capital have meanwhile started depositing boxes of groceries, flashlights and power banks in the elevators of high-rise buildings - in case they need help in the event of a power outage in the elevator are caught.

Most hospitals in Kyiv are currently able to cope with the power outages thanks to generators. Educational institutions and social services have also received generators. "Such facilities have priority for us," explains Ukrenerho boss Volodymyr Kudryzkyj.

Still, schools are reporting power shortages, internet outages and even more restricted classes. This is another setback, especially for the students who, after attacks on their schools, were recently only able to follow the lessons online. "Most of the children learned from afar, but now that's no longer possible," laments a mother in the Wynohradar district of Kiev.

Even smaller medical facilities and practices can only work temporarily or not at all. Dentist Viktor Turakevich says he was forced to postpone his patients' appointments indefinitely. "We can't even accept patients with acute toothache." He doesn't expect a generator for a few weeks.

"The Russians cannot win on the battlefield, so they use cold and darkness as a weapon against the civilian population to foment panic and depression and to demoralize the Ukrainians," Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta political research center in Kyiv sums up. Russian President Vladimir Putin is suffering military defeats and needs a military break, says Fesenko. That is why he wants to force Ukraine to negotiate in this way.

Fesenko is convinced that pressure should also be increased on the West. Because he had to expand his help for freezing Kyiv. "Putin is trying to overestimate the price of supporting Ukraine," explains the expert, "both in terms of money and a possible new flight to Europe from a freezing country."

"Kick-off Politics" is WELT's daily news podcast. The most important topic analyzed by WELT editors and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or directly via RSS feed.

Avatar
Your Name
Post a Comment
Characters Left:
Your comment has been forwarded to the administrator for approval.×
Warning! Will constitute a criminal offense, illegal, threatening, offensive, insulting and swearing, derogatory, defamatory, vulgar, pornographic, indecent, personality rights, damaging or similar nature in the nature of all kinds of financial content, legal, criminal and administrative responsibility for the content of the sender member / members are belong.