Blackouts start in Ukraine after Russian strikes hit energy systems

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that 30 percent of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed in just over a week, resulting in “massive blackouts” across the nation.

Officials also confirmed that hospitals in the affected regions were running on backup generators. This is as a result of Russia stepping up their attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.  

“Now the city is cut off from electricity and water supplies. Hospitals are working on backup power,” the mayor of Zhytomyr, Sergiy Sukhomlyn, said in an online statement.

“The situation is critical now across the country. It’s necessary for the whole country to prepare for electricity, water and heating outages,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said during a television interview.

“Another kind of Russian terrorist attacks: targeting energy & critical infrastructure. Since Oct. 10, 30% of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country,” Zelensky tweeted on Tuesday.

Zelensky ruled out talks with Russia by saying there was “no space left for negotiations with Putin’s regime.”

Ukrainian officials confirmed that the death toll in Kyiv increased this week with at least five people being killed on Monday following Russian attacks with Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones. At least three people died in separate strikes the following day.

Russia’s Defense Ministry later confirmed that the Kremlin had launched high-precision strikes on “energy systems” in Ukraine.

“During the day, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continued to strike with long-range high-precision air and sea-based weapons on military command and energy systems of Ukraine, as well as arsenals with foreign-made ammunition and weapons, all designated targets were hit,” Lieutenant-Colonel Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday.