KYIV: Basic services have been restored in Ukrainecapital of Kiev on Saturday following the latest wave of Russian air strikes on critical infrastructure, as residents navigate a city shrouded in smog and prepare for a holiday season marked by uncertainty. .
mayor Vitali Klitschko said a quarter of Kyiv was still without heating but the metro system was back up and all residents were reconnected to the water supply early in the morning.
He said only about a third of the city remains without electricity, but emergency power cuts will still be implemented to save electricity. “Because the power shortage is huge,” he wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
Ukrainian officials said Russia fired more than 70 rockets on Friday in one of the heaviest strikes since Kremlin24 February invasion, forcing an emergency power cut across the country.
Ukraine managed to restore electricity to nearly 6 million people in the last 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address.
“Repair work continues non-stop after yesterday’s terrorist attack… Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done to stabilize the system,” he said.
“There’s a problem with the heat supply. There’s a big problem with the water supply,” added Zelenskiy, adding that Kyiv as well as Vinnytsia and Lviv further west are struggling the most.
Earlier this month, Mayor Kyiv Klitschko warned of a “doomsday” scenario for the capital if Russia’s air strikes on infrastructure continued, although he also said that residents did not need to. must evacuate.
“We’re fighting and doing everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen,” he told Reuters on December 7.
In the bleak winter fog on Saturday, officials reopened a popular pedestrian bridge that was damaged in an earlier air strike and are erecting a smaller-than-usual Christmas tree in the central square. heart.
The large space in front of the Church of St. The hundred-year-old Sophia is traditionally anchored by a giant evergreen tree at Christmas. But officials this year chose a 12-meter (40-foot) artificial tree adorned with energy-efficient lights powered by generators.
Orthodox Christians make up the majority of Ukraine’s 43 million people.
Klitschko said the tree is funded by donors and businesses, and there will be no public celebrations.
Kyiv resident Iryna Soloychuk, who came with her daughter to see the trees just hours after another series of air raid warnings sounded across the country, said: “I doubt this will be a real holiday.
“But we should understand that we are all together, that we should help each other.”
mayor Vitali Klitschko said a quarter of Kyiv was still without heating but the metro system was back up and all residents were reconnected to the water supply early in the morning.
He said only about a third of the city remains without electricity, but emergency power cuts will still be implemented to save electricity. “Because the power shortage is huge,” he wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
Ukrainian officials said Russia fired more than 70 rockets on Friday in one of the heaviest strikes since Kremlin24 February invasion, forcing an emergency power cut across the country.
Ukraine managed to restore electricity to nearly 6 million people in the last 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address.
“Repair work continues non-stop after yesterday’s terrorist attack… Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done to stabilize the system,” he said.
“There’s a problem with the heat supply. There’s a big problem with the water supply,” added Zelenskiy, adding that Kyiv as well as Vinnytsia and Lviv further west are struggling the most.
Earlier this month, Mayor Kyiv Klitschko warned of a “doomsday” scenario for the capital if Russia’s air strikes on infrastructure continued, although he also said that residents did not need to. must evacuate.
“We’re fighting and doing everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen,” he told Reuters on December 7.
In the bleak winter fog on Saturday, officials reopened a popular pedestrian bridge that was damaged in an earlier air strike and are erecting a smaller-than-usual Christmas tree in the central square. heart.
The large space in front of the Church of St. The hundred-year-old Sophia is traditionally anchored by a giant evergreen tree at Christmas. But officials this year chose a 12-meter (40-foot) artificial tree adorned with energy-efficient lights powered by generators.
Orthodox Christians make up the majority of Ukraine’s 43 million people.
Klitschko said the tree is funded by donors and businesses, and there will be no public celebrations.
Kyiv resident Iryna Soloychuk, who came with her daughter to see the trees just hours after another series of air raid warnings sounded across the country, said: “I doubt this will be a real holiday.
“But we should understand that we are all together, that we should help each other.”
