Power Outage Hits Kiev Amid Snowy Days

The cold weather is gradually pushing up the energy needs of consumers even as repair workers race to fix wrecked power facilities, the Reuters cited grid operator Ukrenergo as saying. 

The consumption restriction regime is still in place due to a capacity deficit, which currently stands at around 20 percent" Ukrenergo said on Telegram. 

The electricity production in the country and especially in the capital incurred damages as the war unfolded in the country. 

Russia targeted the capital in renewed campaign after an attack on a key bridge linking mainland Russia to Crimea over a month ago, which Moscow blamed on Kiev. 

The operator warned that more outages are expected if the consumption rates increased. 

At the same time, weather forecasters expected continued snowfall in Kyiv, a city that had 2.8 million residents before the war, until midweek while temperatures are forecast to stay below freezing. 

The residents in the capital should have four hours of electricity a day, said Sergey Kovalenko, chief operating officer of YASNO, a company providing energy to help the capital. 

Ukraine blames the situation on the Russian operation, but Moscow argues that its attacks were retaliatory to attacks on its infrastructure.