Ukraine is entering a new reality of scheduled power outages that can exceed 16 hours, YASNO, a Ukrainian energy company, CEO Serhiy Kovalenko announced on Facebook.
The country is now operating under schedules with 4.5-5 queues, Kovalenko reports. Previously, anything beyond 4 queues meant emergency unscheduled outages, but this threshold no longer applies.
"The current schedule of probable outages is no longer relevant," Kovalenko says. The maximum intervals of 7 hours without power followed by 3.5 hours with power are also outdated. With restrictions at 5 out of 6 queues, outages can stretch beyond 16 hours.
Kovalenko acknowledges the severity: "Yes, the absence of electricity for more than 16 hours is terrible." He places responsibility squarely on "cynical enemy attacks aimed at creating a humanitarian catastrophe," not on energy workers.
However, he argues that even such harsh schedules offer an advantage over complete unpredictability. "There are guidelines - an understanding of when the light should appear," Kovalenko explains. This predictability, he suggests, makes the situation in other regions preferable to the emergency outages currently affecting Kyiv.
Whether conditions will improve remains uncertain, according to Kovalenko. "We definitely need to survive these severe frosts - with warming, consumption should decrease," he says. But the decisive factor remains attacks on energy infrastructure. "It's impossible to predict them," Kovalenko concludes.
Blackouts in Kyiv stem primarily from recent Russian missile and drone attacks damaging energy infrastructure, compounded by severe frost and bad weather overloads. These factors have triggered emergency power outages across Ukraine as repairs lag.
