Ukraine’s national energy company has urged citizens to “charge everything” by 7 a.m. local time on Thursday because of expected power cuts caused by Russian missile strikes.
Energy plants were hit by Russian missiles again on Wednesday – part of a wave of such strikes since October 10.
Outages of up to four hours at a time will affect the whole country on Thursday, grid operator Ukrenergo said.
Phones, power banks, torches and batteries need to be charged, it urged.
The operator also appealed to Ukrainians to stock up with water and ensure they have “warm socks and blankets and hugs for family and friends”.
Earlier President Volodymyr Zelensky said 30% of Ukrainian power stations had been damaged by Russian air strikes.
Ukrenergo said there had been more attacks on power facilities in the past 10 days than in the whole preceding period since Russia’s invasion on February 24.
“Tomorrow we will apply controlled, calculated consumption restrictions, which we have to do, to ensure the system functions in a balanced way,” its statement said on social media.
Ukrenergo said restrictions “may be applied throughout Ukraine from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.” and advised citizens to check the regional network operators’ websites to see where and when exactly.
Sporadic power cuts have already affected parts of the capital Kyiv and many of Ukraine’s regions. Russian missiles have damaged infrastructure all across Ukraine, including cities like Lviv in the west – a long way from the fighting.
Authorities have urged Ukrainians to reduce their power use in the evenings.
“We do not rule out that with the onset of cold weather, we will ask for your help more often,” Ukrenergo said. (BBC)