Published on: 03/11/2022 – 07:14
Russia continues to bomb Ukrainian electrical installations. Consequence: Since Monday, October 31, the power outages have intensified and are severely affecting the daily lives of Ukrainians. But both individuals and companies seem to be coping with amazing resilience.
With our correspondent in Kyiv, Stephane Siohan
The phone is working this Thursday morning, which means it’s not doing too badly. Because you have to know that Power outages since Monday have cascading effects in all other networks: In the event of a blackout, the Internet is cut off and the mobile network is significantly slowed down. We regularly receive SMS from our operator apologizing for the disruptions and promising that their technicians are working hard to fix it.
However, the situation is very chaotic. Much of the city was without power on Tuesday, but the situation in the capital generally improved on Wednesday. However, the bombing continues in other cities, such as Kryvyi Rih in the south of the country, a large industrial city hit by Iranian suicide bombers last night.
In reality, all Ukrainians are preparing for a harsh winter, with 40% of the country’s power plants reportedly bombed in recent weeks. And it affects household water supply, heating, daily communications, the operation of schools and businesses.
Rotating cuts
The first practical consequence is that public and private operators in the districts organize alternating interruptions, sometimes for six or eight hours, to relieve the network. You can be in the supermarket or in a coffee shop and suddenly nothing works, you can’t pay with your credit card or with your phone.
Road traffic has also become chaotic, many traffic lights do not work, therefore there is a real risk of road accidents, especially when Kyiv is plunged into darkness. Kievans are buying candles in droves, but also autonomous chargers for phones and computers. There are hardly any left in the capital.
Finally, Ukrenergo and DTEK, the two largest electricity companies, have deployed veritable brigades of technicians who work wonders, very powerful 600-kilowatt generators have been sent to boost the grid. But we still wonder how long this resistance will last as Russia continues to intervene relentlessly in Ukraine’s power grid.