A full-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. Following massive Russian strikes, the cities have been left without heating and electricity amid freezing temperatures. Communications outages are also being reported, disrupting air-raid warning systems.
In communities where air-raid alert systems are temporarily offline, police are warning residents of incoming threats via loudspeakers.
Russia targets energy to make eastern Ukraine unlivable
Russia is deliberately striking energy infrastructure, seeking to render eastern Ukraine uninhabitable. Moscow has shifted from a strategy of territorial seizure to one of systematic destruction, aiming to sever the industrial east, characterized by high electricity consumption, from power generation in the west by destroying key substations and transmission lines.
The goal of these attacks is to destroy industry, displace the population, and force mass migration, according to Ukrainian officials.
Hundreds of thousands without power, mines shut down
As of the morning of 8 January, around 800,000 consumers in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast remain without electricity. Social and critical infrastructure facilities are operating on partial power supply.
Acting Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov states that eight mines in the region were also left without power, although all workers were safely evacuated to the surface in a timely manner.
According to Nekrasov, the outages are the result of another overnight Russian attack on energy facilities, with the main strike targeting Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, leaving them almost completely without electricity.
Emergency outages nationwide; calls to conserve electricity
Emergency repair work is ongoing and began overnight. Power has already been partially restored in Zaporizhzhia, but the situation remains unstable.
Nekrasov urged Ukrainians to limit the use of high-consumption electrical appliances to prevent further large-scale blackouts.
Severe weather has further complicated the situation. As of the morning, settlements in Chernihiv, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zakarpattia regions were fully or partially without power, with repairs underway.
Emergency outage schedules have been introduced in Kharkiv, Poltava, and Sumy oblasts, while such measures will continue for some time in Donetsk Oblast.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he believes Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials, experts, and soldiers don't see any signs of Russia's readiness to cease the strikes and withdraw from its territory.
