Ukraine is preparing for power outages and new Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure. Russia “is concentrating forces and means for a possible repetition of massive attacks on our infrastructure, especially energy,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine on Monday faced a 32% deficit in planned electricity supply, said Sergei Kovalenko, CEO of Yasno, a major energy supplier for the capital. “That’s a lot, and it’s force majeure,” he said. About 500 power generators were sent to Ukraine by 17 EU countries as 4.5 million Ukrainians were left without electricity.
The mayor of Kyiv urged residents to prepare for a worst-case scenario by making contingency plans to leave the city and stay with friends or family. Vitali Klitschko urged residents to “think of everything,” including power and water cuts. “If you have extended family or friends outside of Kyiv, where there is an autonomous water supply, stove and heating, please think about the possibility of staying there for a certain period of time.”
The Russian-held city of Kherson in Ukraine was cut off from water and electricity on Sunday after an airstrike and damage to the Kakhovka Dam, local officials said. “There is temporarily no electricity or water supply in Kherson and some other areas in the region,” the Moscow-installed administration said on Telegram. Russia accused Ukraine of an act of “sabotage”.
This was announced by the Ukrainian military Russia urged residents of Kherson to evacuate as soon as possible and send them alerts on their phones On Sunday. Russia “occupied and evacuated” Kherson at the same time, trying to convince Ukrainians that its forces are withdrawing when in reality they are digging in, Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern forces, told state television. The Kremlin-installed administration in Kherson has already expelled tens of thousands of civilians from the city.
Russian forces are stepping up their attacks in a hotly contested region of eastern Ukraine, exacerbating already difficult conditions for residents and the Ukrainian army, Ukrainian authorities said. “The very fierce Russian attacks on the Donetsk region continue. The enemy is suffering heavy casualties there,” Zelenskyy said in his late-night video address.
US officials have reportedly privately warned the Ukrainian government that it must signal its openness to negotiations with Russia. Officials in Washington warned that “Ukraine fatigue” among allies could worsen if Kyiv continues to be closed to negotiations, the Washington Post reported. US officials told the newspaper that Ukraine’s position on negotiations with Russia is becoming thin among allies worried about the economic fallout from a protracted war.
The Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia was again supplied with external power supply Two days after it was unplugged when Russian shelling damaged high-voltage lines, the UN nuclear watchdog said. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant requires electricity to keep vital cooling systems running, but it has been running on backup diesel generators since Russian shelling severed its external connections.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has been holding secret talks with top Russian officials in hopes of reducing the risk of a nuclear conflict, the Wall Street Journal reported. It quotes US and allied officials as saying that in recent months Sullivan has held undisclosed talks with Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Sullivan’s counterpart. The White House declined to comment on the report.