The Kryvyi Rih City Hospital №16, 43 educational institutions, and the Territorial Center for Social Protection are also affected by the outages. This affects approximately 110,000 residents. The Ministry has been tasked with preparing an emergency plan to restore heating in the city.
An emergency meeting was held on Nov. 21 to address the critical situation, led by the First Deputy Minister Vasyl Shkurakov. The meeting included reports from city authorities, the regional military administration, representatives from NJSC Naftogaz (which includes Kryvyi Rih Heat and Power Plant), and the Kryvyi Rih Thermal Power Station.
The Ministry of Communities and Territories Development emphasized that all responsible parties must act as effectively as possible to resolve the heating issue promptly.
The previous heating season in Kryvyi Rih was marked by widespread and persistent disruptions, according to local channel Pershyi Kryvorizkyi. Most residents were left without heating, and some of the damaged pipelines from the last season were not repaired before the start of the new heating period.
The Kryvyi Rih Heat and Power Plant is one of the city's main heat-generating enterprises. The plant's structure includes six large boiler houses that supply heat to nearly 50% of Kryvyi Rih's population (as of 2022, the city had over 600,000 residents).
Russia attacked Ukraine's energy generation and transmission facilities overnight and in the morning of Nov. 17, using various types of missiles and drones. Explosions were heard in Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, and Mykolaiv. Residents of Kryvyi Rih reported smoke over the city.
Explosions were heard in Kryvyi Rih on Nov. 21. As a result of the Russian attack, an administrative building was partially destroyed, and two residential two-story buildings were damaged. 26 people were killed.