In Kyiv, heating pipes have burst in at least several hundred buildings due to the freezing cold. This has happened after Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on Kyiv on 9 January, following which municipal services failed to drain water from the heating systems.
Russia is targeting specific objects across Ukraine in an effort to disconnect them from the country’s unified energy system, creating isolated “energy islands” that cannot be supplied with heat or electricity.
The city is struggling to cope with mass shutdown of heating
Oleh Popenko, head of the Union of Utility Services Consumers, says this means that heating in affected buildings can only be restored after major capital repairs.
“At least several hundred apartment buildings in Kyiv did not have their systems drained. The reasons vary: some residents refused, others were unaware. As a result, many buildings failed to withstand the stress,” the expert explains.
Popenko predicts that restoring heating in these buildings will take at least several months.
Russia plans to attack once again – Intelligence
On 12 January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia is preparing another large-scale attack on Ukrainian cities. He emphasized that its goal is to overload Ukraine’s air defense capabilities.
“They want to exploit the cold. This strike may take place in the coming days,” the president said.
Earlier, Zelenskyy stated that attacks carried out during extreme cold, when temperatures fall to –15 to –20°C, amount to deliberate cruelty toward Ukrainians.
