Ukraine rolls out emergency blackouts across the country

Ukraine rolled out emergency blackouts Tuesday after weeks of Russian strikes on power plants left the country unable to deal with a drop in temperatures, state power operator Ukrenergo said.

Russia has launched some of its most devastating strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities in recent months, knocking out key facilities and forcing Ukraine to import electricity from neighboring EU countries to meet demand.

“From 21:00 to 24:00 (1800-2100 GMT), Ukrenergo is forced to introduce controlled emergency shutdowns in all regions of Ukraine,” it said in a post on Telegram.

“The reason for this is a significant shortage of electricity in the system as a result of Russian strikes and increased consumption due to a cold snap.”

It was unclear how severe the power outages were across the country.

In the capital Kyiv, the city administration said 10 percent of households had been disconnected.

Footage shared on social media from the western city of Lviv showed buildings in complete darkness in the city center and street lights switched off.

Ukrenergo said electricity supplies to businesses would be rationed throughout Wednesday.