Kyiv scrambles to repair ruined power grid after Russian attack

Kyiv's water and heating systems were back on after being briefly shut down amid intense cold on Saturday, as engineers scrambled to stabilise a power grid brought to the brink by a campaign of Russian strikes, including one two nights ago.

Russia has regularly conducted intense bombardments of Ukraine's energy system since it invaded its neighbour in 2022, causing multi-hour daily blackouts in major cities.

Heat and water infrastructure have also been heavily affected in recent weeks, an increasing concern with temperatures already below minus 10 degrees Celsius, and set to plunge further in the coming week.

The city administration said around noon local time (1000 GMT) on Saturday that the state grid operator Ukrenergo had ordered the city's power system to be shut down, and that the water and heating systems, as well as electrified public transport, would also stop working as a result.

Less than an hour later, Ukrenergo said engineers had managed to remedy the immediate issue, which had been caused by damage from previous Russian strikes, and that power was coming back online in parts of Kyiv.

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the heating system, which in Ukrainian cities is centralised and pumps hot water to homes in pipes, was also coming back on, and that she expected heat supply to be fully restored on Saturday.

However, she said that the power situation in the capital was still difficult, as the grid was badly damaged and people were using more electric heaters because of the cold.

On Friday, about 6,000 of Kyiv's apartment blocks were left without heating after the latest Russian missile and drone attack, as bitter cold set in.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said half of those blocks had heat supply restored by Saturday before it was shut off again due to the power grid problem.