More than a thousand days after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, new offensives by Moscow on Christmas Day targeted the energy grid. For residents, the threat of cuts looms large, as the thermometer drops below 0°C.
Russia launched more than 170 missiles and drones towards Ukraine this Wednesday, December 25, Christmas Day. His target, in the middle of a harsh winter: Ukraine's energy system.
This “inhumane” attack caused the death of one person, according to kyiv. It also left hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity or heating, while the thermometer hovered between -1 and 2°C.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin consciously chose Christmas for his attack. What could be more inhumane?” cursed Volodymyr Zelensky in a message on Telegram.
The emergency generator, a tool that quickly becomes indispensable
But these attacks and the resulting cuts have almost become commonplace in two years of war, as noted by the BFMTV reporter in Ukraine. In the streets of kyiv, we can now hear the soft purring of electric generators, particularly useful for maintaining business activity.
“Without this, customers cannot pay with the card, the system does not work. And above all, when you open a book, you need light to know what you are reading,” testifies a bookseller whose business is maintained afloat by the machine.
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Another shopkeeper, whose machine ran out of fuel, noted that customers avoid the shop until it is lit, thinking that it is simply closed.
“It’s getting dark early at the moment with winter,” she adds to BFMTV.
Still, calm gradually returned to Ukraine this Thursday, September 26. For more than 24 hours, the alarm announcing a Russian offensive has not sounded in kyiv and in a large part of the country far from the front line. A fact rare enough to be highlighted.
Pierre Barbin with Tom Kerkour
