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Kyiv Endures Deep Freeze and Rolling Blackouts as Ukraine Moves to Energy Emergency

Strict power rationing with heated hubs seeks to blunt grid damage during a brutal cold snap.

Overview

  • Blackouts stretched into a third day on Thursday as temperatures fell to as low as minus 17 to minus 20 degrees Celsius across the capital.
  • Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said electricity would be restored in Kyiv by Thursday evening, according to local reports, after authorities imposed emergency schedules.
  • Left-bank districts receive power for three to four hours followed by nine to ten hours without, while right-bank areas cycle about five hours on and five hours off, officials said.
  • President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would declare a state of emergency in the energy sector, ordered more electricity imports, and criticized Kyiv’s preparedness.
  • Authorities opened 47 round-the-clock “points of invincibility” for heat, charging and internet access, serving thousands as residents improvised at home with tents, hot water bottles and generators.