Kyiv is operating with barely half the electricity it needs as Ukraine’s capital endures its most severe wartime energy crisis after waves of Russian strikes on critical infrastructure, city officials and aid agencies said, forcing school closures, dimmed street lighting and mounting risks of hypothermia amid bitter winter cold.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Kyiv requires about 1,700 megawatts to power services for its 3.6 million residents, but current supply falls far short. “It’s the first time in the history of our city that, in such severe frosts, most of the city was left without heating and with a huge shortage of electricity,” he said in an interview at his office.
- Advertisement -
Authorities said around 100 buildings remain without heat. Starting Jan. 19, Kyiv schools will close for break until Feb. 1 due to “difficult conditions” following renewed strikes, Klitschko announced. The city will also reduce street lighting to one-fifth of normal intensity to conserve power.
The shortages are biting as nighttime temperatures in parts of Ukraine drop to about minus 18 Celsius (0 Fahrenheit), according to aid groups, compounding danger for families sheltering in high-rises and basements to avoid attacks. The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF warned that children across the country face a growing risk of hypothermia as emergency stocks of generators and supplies run low.
“Children and families are in constant survival mode,” UNICEF Country Representative Munir Mammadzade told reporters in Geneva. Some families are stuffing windows with soft toys to block the freezing air, the agency said, as it races to restore heating and water services pummeled by missiles and drones.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Kyiv and front-line regions are enduring the harshest conditions, with thousands of homes in the capital and in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odesa and towns near the front left without power or heat for days. “Without heat, people are at high risk for hypothermia, frostbite and respiratory illnesses,” said Jaime Wah, the federation’s deputy head of delegation in Kyiv, noting that unpredictable power cuts are disrupting water supplies and health care. Families in the capital are considering leaving, he added.
Pre-positioned stockpiles of sleeping kits, generators and repair materials are dwindling as needs soar and funding lags, the Red Cross said. UNICEF said it is providing high-capacity generators to help keep hospitals and schools warm and supplied with water, but appealed for additional support.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week he would declare a state of emergency in the energy sector, while Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine has fuel reserves for more than 20 days. Zelensky pressed allies for additional air defense ammunition to shield the grid, saying several systems had been left without missiles until a new aid package arrived this morning.
The deepening energy crisis coincides with a diplomatic push. A Ukrainian delegation is en route to the United States for talks on security guarantees and a postwar recovery package, Zelensky said, expressing hope the documents could be signed on the sidelines of next week’s World Economic Forum in Davos.
“I think we have worked well with the American side, we are just not on the same side on some issues,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv, standing alongside Czech President Petr Pavel. “Ultimatums are not, in my view, a workable model for democratic relations between countries,” he said, without elaborating.
Washington has encouraged Kyiv to agree to a peace framework that would then be presented to Moscow, while Ukraine and its European partners have focused on ensuring Russia cannot mount future attacks. Zelensky said Ukraine had completed its part of a “prosperity package” to unlock funding for reconstruction and on U.S. security guarantees meant to deter renewed aggression. Ukrainian officials estimate postwar rebuilding could cost $800 billion.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week he may meet Zelensky in Davos. He also said Russia was ready for a peace deal and portrayed Zelensky as an obstacle—an assessment at odds with European allies. Zelensky accused Moscow of stalling and pointed to the latest strikes on the energy system as proof of the Kremlin’s intentions. “They are not interested in agreements, but in the further destruction of Ukraine,” he posted on social media after the news conference.
As Kyiv grapples with rolling blackouts and subzero nights, officials and aid workers warned that the immediate priority is keeping heat and water flowing—and securing the air defenses to make that possible.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
