During the day, entire districts of the Ukrainian capital are disconnected from the power grid to save energy. Traffic lights stop working, causing queues, and generators installed outside cafes and shops roar.
Ukraine, including Kyivyou’re trying to deal with new blackouts after Russian attacks left the country without half of its electricity generation capacity.
kyiv residents and businesses have been adapting, using generators, transformers and flashlights, or even changing your trips to the bathroom. Extensive damage to the country’s electrical system has caused uncertainty about whether Ukraine will be able to meet demand after the hot summer months pass and the cold weather sets in.
“I light my apartment like my grandparents did: with candles and lanterns”said Rudoy, an insurance agent from Israel who moved from Tel Aviv to kyiv in 2023 after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
He commented that he wanted a new life despite the war, living with old friends and in a more temperate climate, but he had not anticipated the inconvenience of living without electricity. He bought an apartment on the seventh floor of a 25-story building, without gas or water, totally dependent on electricity.
“I have to adjust my life to the times of the blackouts, otherwise it is impossible to live normally, not even sometimes to go to the bathroom,” Rudoy told the agency. AP.
A friend in a nearby district usually has electricity when he doesn’t, which makes his life easier. He often works from a cafe that has a generator, but there is a complication.
“Even if you find a table at a nearby cafe, the generators make a lot of noise and emit diesel fumes,” he said. “That’s why it’s not always good to work in cafes during blackouts.”
Ukraine is struggling to meet demand for electricity as systematic attacks on its power grid have intensified since March, forcing distributors to ration supplies to homes over the past three months. The country’s top officials repeatedly ask allies to provide more air defense systems to protect their power plants from Russian missiles and drones, but much damage has already been done.
Blackouts in kyiv are the worst since the first months of the warwhen Russia attacked the country’s power plants in the winter cold, prompting authorities to erect communal heating centers and rally points where the population could drink tea, recharge their phones and get help.
(AP)
