Moscow confirms and is pleased to have struck, Monday, October 31, energy infrastructure in Ukraine. With some “high precision weapons”, says the Ministry of Defense. kyiv for its part condemns a “massive attack”.
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These attacks notably led to water and electricity cuts. All day, the repairers were busy. In kyiv, 350,000 homes were without electricity. According to the mayor of the capital, 80% of the inhabitants of the capital are still deprived of drinking water. The reason: without electricity, the pumps that bring water to the apartments cannot work. “Almost every Monday for a month, Vladimir Putin offers us this new routine”says, tired, a resident of the capital.
In kyiv, people are practically no longer sheltering but they are starting to build up water reserves in particular. For several days, the city has been plunged into darkness in the evening. You have to save electricity. Neighborhoods are deprived of it for hours. “We can survive without electricity, without water… But the worst, on days like today, is not being able to reach our families to make sure they are safe”, testifies a young librarian of the capital. Without electricity, communications are disrupted.
Ukraine managed, according to the Ukrainian authorities, to intercept most of the strikes. But it is very difficult to have clear information. The authorities, however, claim to have managed to avoid the worst. Dozens of missiles could have been effectively intercepted by the anti-aircraft defense system. The anti-aircraft defense system dates from the Cold War but it is increasingly efficient thanks to the systems provided by the allied countries, the United States in the lead.
But the worry is there. Russia today targeted the Vyshgorod dam, north of the capital. If such an infrastructure were to be seriously damaged, the consequences would be colossal for the capital. Ukrainians are, as usual, resilient. This morning, the capital functioned more or less normally. “We have to get used to this. Do we have a choice?”says a young woman in her thirties who runs a theater.
“For the moment, it’s not much. Especially since winter is not here yet.”
A resident of Kyivat franceinfo
The inhabitants prepare themselves mentally for a winter which is likely to be freezing. Without or with intermittent heating. “It’s war, what can we do about it…”, sums up a young restaurateur. His establishment today was only able to operate for an hour.