People walk on a dark street in Kyiv with the country facing more blackouts. Murad Sezer/Reuters
People walk on a dark street in Kyiv with the country facing more blackouts. Murad Sezer/Reuters
TOP STORIES
· Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of more Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. He said Russia was "concentrating forces and means for a possible repetition of mass attacks on our infrastructure. First of all, energy."
· Ukraine Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier on Twitter that Ukraine would "stand" despite Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, by marshaling air defense, protecting infrastructure and optimizing consumption to do so.
· Ukraine's grid operator told consumers to brace for more blackouts in Kyiv and other regions as it seeks to reduce the strain on energy infrastructure damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks. "The country's power grid still cannot resume full operation after the Russian terrorist attacks. In some regions, we have to introduce blackouts to avoid overloading the high-voltage infrastructure," the Ukrenergo grid operator said. READ MORE BELOW
· The country faced a projected shortfall of 32 percent in power supply on Monday, Sergei Kovalenko, the chief executive of YASNO, a major provider of energy to the capital, said on his Facebook page.
· Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has urged residents to "consider everything", including a worst-case scenario in which the capital loses power and water. Residents should look at "spending some time" with friends or family outside the city, he said in a television interview.
· U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, held undisclosed talks with Russian officials designed to avoid further escalation, the Wall Street Journal said. He had traveled to Kyiv on Friday and pledged Washington's "unwavering and unflinching" support for Ukraine.
· The Kremlin declined to comment on Monday on the report that Washington had held the undisclosed talks with top Russian officials. "We have nothing to say about this publication," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
· Kherson regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said Russian forces destroyed about 1.5 kilometers of power lines, cutting supply to the city of Beryslav. "It is likely that there will be no electricity in Beryslav until it is fully freed from occupation," Yanushevych wrote on Telegram adding that power lines to Kherson had also been destroyed.
· Russian news agencies said shelling by Ukrainian forces damaged Ukraine's vast Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam, upstream of Kherson on the Dnipro river. Russian state-owned TASS quoted an emergency services representative as saying a rocket launched by a U.S.-made HIMARS missile system had hit the dam's lock.
· The rouble strengthened to a two-week high on Monday, belatedly responding to last Friday's dollar weakness as it pulled away from its lowest point since mid-October that was hit before the Russian market closed for a three-day weekend.
Workers remove debris from a building damaged by debris in Donetsk. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Workers remove debris from a building damaged by debris in Donetsk. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
IN DETAIL
Ukrainians warned over blackouts from shelling of energy infrastructure
Ukraine's grid operator told consumers to brace for more blackouts in Kyiv and other regions on Monday as it seeks to reduce the strain on energy infrastructure damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks.
Rolling blackouts are becoming increasingly routine in the capital of three million after a wave of Russian attacks on power facilities that have damaged 40 percent of energy infrastructure since October 10.
Several of those attacks have struck during the Monday rush hour with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy having said late on Sunday that Russia might be preparing new attempts on infrastructure.
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"The country's power grid still cannot resume full operation after the Russian terrorist attacks. In some regions, we have to introduce blackouts to avoid overloading the high-voltage infrastructure," the Ukrenergo grid operator said.
Scheduled shutdowns from 6.00 am local time (0400 GMT) to the end of the day will affect Kyiv and the regions of Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava, it said in a statement.
Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation that more than 4.5 million consumers were without power.
Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko has told the city's residents to consider everything including a worst-case scenario where the capital loses power and water completely.
Source(s): Reuters
,AFP