3/28/2023 0 Comments Torchlight reveals the hour![]() ![]() In the heart of Kyiv, the city’s iconic Independence Square, known as the Maidan, regularly goes dark. “When they see that they can’t defeat the (Ukrainian) army, they start fighting with those at the back - the civilians,” he says. Moscow’s troops are struggling to resist a Ukrainian counter-offensive that saw Kyiv’s forces retake thousands of square kilometres in the northeast in September. The recent salvo of Russian strikes on the capital, after a months-long lull, is a stark reminder of the war raging on the frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine, where deadly bombardments are a daily occurrence.įor Zhuk, a scientist and singer, the bombing of civilian infrastructure shows “the agony and powerlessness of the Russian army”. “I’d never be doing this if the lights were on,” she admits. Sitting by candlelight, Rozdobudko passes the time sewing doll’s clothes. ![]() Parts of the capital also experienced interruptions to water supplies last week, following renewed Russian missile attacks. On Sunday, even the streets near the presidential office in Kyiv, which had so far escaped the power outages, briefly went dark, AFP reporters saw. The pitch-black pavements are lit up here and there by residents using torches or mobile phone lights to guide them home.īut so widespread is the damage to Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure that Ukrenergo said at the weekend the controlled blackouts were not enough to relieve the grid and additional power cuts had to be imposed. Outside, the neighbourhood is plunged into darkness, the odd faint light emerging from the windows of some nearby apartments. In the bathroom, they have put up a camping lantern. With winter fast approaching, the writer is grateful that the heating still works too.įlashlights as well as candles, bought long ago for decorative purposes, keep their flat illuminated. “There is cabbage in the fridge, carrots and other necessary items,” she adds. The gas stove in the flat still works and water comes out of the tap even if the pressure is weak, she says. If she had to, Rozdobudko says she could cook borscht, a traditional beetroot soup, “with my eyes closed”. “I like the semi-darkness, when it’s quiet, moody and no one interrupts my thoughts,” says Rozdobudko, a 60-year-old writer and artist, as she prepares a vegetable salad. The buildings in the neighbourhood where Rozdobudko and her husband Zhuk live experienced three four-hour power cuts on Saturday - from midnight to 4:00 am, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and again from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Residents can consult the official schedule for rolling blackouts to pinpoint exactly when their lights will go out. To ease the strain on the grid and avoid a total blackout, national energy operator Ukrenergo has imposed controlled power cuts in the capital and elsewhere across the war-torn country. She lights a candle, he switches on his head torch, and they settle in for a quiet evening.įor much of the past month, Russian strikes have heavily targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, severely damaging the electricity network. When their apartment block in northern Kyiv goes dark just after 6:00 pm as scheduled, residents Iren Rozdobudko and Igor Zhuk are ready. ![]()
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