Ukraine war: Kyiv orders ministries to stop using ACs as power system hit by Russia

Ukraine on Friday (June 7) ordered all ministries and regionalauthoritiesto stop usingairconditioningand switch off external lighting as Russian bombardments forced long blackouts across the country. At a government meeting,Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that reducing power consumption and saving as much electricity as possible was vital following Russian strikes on the Ukrainian power system.

"Due to the Russian attacks, we have a significant deficit in the energy system. To improve the situation, we restore and expand generation and simultaneously reduce consumption," Prime MinisterShmyhal added.

"We approved the government's order to reduce electricity consumption by all state authorities. Ministries, central institutions, and regional administrations should stop usingairconditioners and external lighting of buildings and nearby areas," he said.

The prime minister further urgedbusinesses to follow and limit the use ofairconditioningand other energy-intensive equipment as much as possible.

Attacks intensified on Ukraine's energy system

A report by the news agency Reuters said that over the past two months, Russia has intensified its attackson the Ukrainian energy system, knocking out the bulk of thermal and hydropower generation capacity. PMShmyhal said on Friday thatUkraine has lost about 9 GW of energy-generating capacity since March.

Following the latest attack earlier this month,the sixth since March, the government imposed long electricity cuts across the country.

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People in Kyiv said thatthey had no electricity for up to 12 hours a day.

Rolling blackouts are a reminder of the first winter of the war when Russian bombardments targeted the distribution grid, resulting in long hours without electricity and sometimes water and heating.

(With inputs from agencies)