Kyiv Residents Urged To Save Electricity After Russian Missile Strike

Ukraine’s state energy operator has urged Kyiv residents to cut down on electricity use in the evenings, after a Russian missile strike disabled a power installation near the capital.

Officials said power had been restored across Ukraine earlier after Russian missiles hit energy infrastructure.

But Ukrenergo has still called for the reduction between 17:00 and 23:00 (15:00 – 21:00 GMT), warning of possible power cuts.

The request was not confined to Kyiv.

The deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said the populations of Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and Chernihiv should also save electricity.

“If this advice is ignored, we will have difficulties and it will be necessary to take out the candles,” he warned.

Ukrenergo has urged residents to save electricity in the evening by not using energy-guzzling appliances, switching off unnecessary lighting and doing their washing at night.

However, the BBC’s Paul Adams reports that Kyiv streets are already darker than usual at night, but “life very much goes on”.

The energy warning comes as more heavy fighting is reported north of Russian-held Kherson.

Kirill Stremousov, a Russian-appointed leader in the southern region, said Ukrainian shelling was coming from the Dudchany area, on the west bank of the Dnieper river (called Dnipro by Ukrainians).