Rolling blackouts have become increasingly routine in the capital of three million people following a wave of Russian attacks on power facilities that have destroyed 40 percent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since October 10. “The country’s electricity grid cannot continue to operate fully after the Russian terrorist attacks,” grid operator Ukrenergo said on Monday. “In some areas, we have to introduce blackouts to avoid overloading the high-voltage infrastructure.” The planned shutdowns from 6 a.m. local time until the end of the day will affect Kyiv and the regions of Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava, it said in a statement. President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation that more than 4.5 million consumers were without power.
