As the Northern Hemisphere heads with haste towards winter, the concerns regarding the situation of the Ukrainian population are growing.
It is now reported that Kiev faces daily blackouts of eight to 20 hours as the Russian Federation forces push their offensive at multiple points of the front.
Ukrainians endeavor to reconstruct and protect ‘an energy system that has lost half its power generation capacity.’
Politico reported:
“Already, experts are predicting energy rationing that would leave people without electricity for much of the day. Add in a cold snap and damaging strikes on the nuclear power system, and Ukraine could be facing blackouts of up to 20 hours per day, said Oleksandr Kharchenko, managing director at the Energy Industry Research Center and an adviser to Ukraine’s government on energy.”
In practical terms, that means no heat for homes and no power for the factories that carry the war effort.
This may lead to a massive wave of Ukrainians leaving the country in search of refuge.
“’We’re anticipating a very harsh winter’, said one senior United States official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “People will die in their homes because Russia is taking out the energy infrastructure.”
Read: Russian Missiles and Drones Pound Ukraine’s Power Plants in Heaviest Strike in Weeks – More Than Half of Kiev’s Energy Infrastructure Has Been Destroyed
For months the Russian airstrikes have been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Eight power plants and over 800 heat supply facilities have been destroyed.
“’The most realistic scenario’ facing the country this winter, [energy market expert Gennadii Riabtsev] said, involves limiting ‘the supply of electricity to industry and households for eight to 14 hours a day. Russian strikes will obviously continue, and nothing can guarantee the protection of the newly restored facilities from attacks … due to a lack of multilevel air and missile defense systems’, he added.”
Read: UKRAINE DARKNESS: Kiev Fires ATACMS With Cluster Munitions at Crimean Beachgoers, as Russia Rips Its Power Infrastructure – Citizens Receiving Just 8 Daily Hours of Energy
As of now, it’s not known if the winter in Ukraine will turn out to be extreme.
“’In a worst-case scenario’ — the temperature plummeting to below minus 10 degrees Celsius and Moscow crippling Ukraine’s nuclear plants — ‘the country could face blackouts of up to 20 hours per day’, [Government energy adviser Oleksandr] Kharchenko said.”
Read more:
UKRAINE DARKNESS: Massive Russian Strikes to the Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure Lead to Power Shutdowns in Most of the Country
The post UKRAINE DARKNESS: With Power Infrastructure Destroyed, Kiev Faces Daily Blackouts of Eight to 20 Hours During the Winter, as Russian Attacks Intensify All Along the Front appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.