Kyiv to shift to scheduled power outages within days, minister says
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Kyiv in blackout (Photo: REUTERS/Yan Dobronosov)
Ukraine’s power grid remains under extreme strain, but Kyiv is expected to move from emergency outages to scheduled rolling blackouts within days, Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Jan. 21.
“We have set the task of moving from emergency to scheduled, albeit very restrictive, outages in the coming days,” Shmyhal wrote in a Telegram post.
The recently appointed minister said emergency repairs have partially stabilized the central heating network in the capital after Russia’s latest missile attack on Jan. 20. Two days later, some 3,261 homes in the capital remained without heating. Additionally, the weather has improved: while still freezing, air temperatures now hover just below 0C (32F).
The Minister for Development, Oleksii Kuleba, added that repair crews reconnected around 800 Kyiv apartment buildings to the central heating network over the past 24 hours.
“Tomorrow, our goal is to restore heat to as many residences as possible; municipal services are doing everything they can,” Shmyhal said.
Kuleba said the worst-hit districts are Pecherskyi, Desnianskyi, Dniprovskyi, Darnytskyi, and Solomianskyi. He also reported that Kyiv’s water supply and sewage systems were fully operational by the end of the day on Jan. 20.
Shmyhal said 124 backup generators of various capacities are deployed at critical points across the city. The State Emergency Service has set up 91 aid stations at 68 locations.
To support hospitals, maternity wards, and “resilience points,” authorities deployed 69 mobile boilers so that these critical sites can operate continuously, Kuleba added.
Shmyhal said 160 repair crews worked during the day in Kyiv. Another 52 teams will continue repairs overnight.
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