Ongoing Russian strikes have taken their toll on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing rolling power outages and crippling transport in several parts of the country.
“Naturally, shortages persist,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Dec. 26 video address. “Blackouts are continuing.”
He went on to assert that roughly 9 million people throughout Ukraine currently lack electricity.
Since mid-October, Russian forces have launched intermittent waves of punishing drone and artillery strikes targeting Ukrainian energy facilities.
Workers repair high-voltage power lines cut by recent missile strikes near Odesa on Dec. 7, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Ukrainian officials, at least half of the country’s total energy infrastructure has been damaged by repeated barrages….