Ukraine’s battered electricity network is approaching a critical point as Russian attacks leave some households in Kyiv without power for up to 20 hours. Officials fear conditions could become unsustainable for millions of people if supplies fall below four hours a day. Scheduled outages began in October as Russia intensified its campaign against energy infrastructure, with Ukraine responding by targeting Russian oil refineries.
The cuts started earlier than last winter and are already lasting longer. Kyiv has suffered the worst disruption, with metro trains and trolleybuses sometimes stopping, while hundreds of thousands of people across Ukraine have lost electricity in recent weeks. President Volodymyr Zelensky says the country retains enough generating capacity to meet demand, but damage to transmission lines and substations prevents electricity from reaching homes and businesses.
For Daryna Kulchytska, a single mother living on the seventh floor of a Kyiv apartment building, the uncertain supply dictates meals, work and her children’s homework. She said electricity had recently been available for only four or five hours a day, at changing times. When the power fails, the lift stops and water cannot be pumped to the flat. As temperatures fall, she wears layers and a heavy coat indoors.
During the BBC’s visit, the electricity failed shortly before 7:30pm, leaving the family without power until dawn. Kulchytska and her children, Kyryll and Olena, brought out torches and LED candles and played Uno before bed. Twelve-year-old Kyryll described the frustration of losing light, water, heating and entertainment. His mother is considering moving somewhere safer or warmer, but feels pulled towards home, friends and relatives. She says the strain is harming her mental health and worries about the children, including Olena’s nightmares.
At one of Ukraine’s largest power stations, a recent ballistic missile attack left turbines buried beneath debris and shut down the entire facility. The BBC withheld its name for security reasons. Volodymyr Kovalenko, who has worked there for 25 years, was in the control room when missiles struck at 3am. He said the destruction exceeded anything the plant had previously experienced, although he believes it can be repaired.
Repeated air alerts are slowing that recovery. Seven warnings interrupted the BBC’s four-hour visit, forcing workers to abandon tasks and seek cover. During one alert, an incoming Banderol cruise missile left staff unable to reach a shelter, so they sheltered behind a thick wall. The missile was intercepted five kilometres away. Vadym Bobyr, who leads the recovery effort, described the emotional difficulty of rebuilding equipment that workers had already restored after earlier attacks.
Maxim Timchenko, chief executive of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said attacks had doubled in power and scale, while overstretched air defences could not protect every critical site. He estimated that rebuilding the station would take at least until next summer because persistent threats allowed workers only one or two productive hours each day. Power facilities have faced almost daily attacks since August, with several lives lost each week.
Some residents are leaving Kyiv or Ukraine to escape the prospect of prolonged winter cold. Kulchytska remains torn over whether to follow them. Despite her fear and exhaustion, she says living without electricity is preferable to living with Russians.
