The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have once again begun shelling energy facilities in Ukraine, as reported by Artem Nekrasov, Deputy Minister of Energy of the country.
As of February 2, power outages have been recorded in consumer areas such as Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy due to the attacks.
“We continue to carry out restoration work on damaged energy facilities and are taking all possible measures to ensure the stable operation of the energy system,” the official noted at a briefing.
Nekrasov also reported that on February 1, Russian troops attacked employees of the energy sector in Dnipropetrovsk region. As a result of a drone strike on a service bus of one of the energy companies located near the "Ternovskaya" mine in the Pavlohrad district, 16 miners were killed, and 14 people were injured.
Due to the difficult situation in Ukraine's energy system, authorities are forced to resort to emergency power outages. “After the situation normalizes, we will return to the pre-planned hourly schedules,” added the Ministry of Energy representative.
More than 160 settlements in the Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kirovohrad regions remain without electricity due to adverse weather conditions, Nekrasov reported.
On January 29, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he had asked Vladimir Putin to cease shelling Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for a week due to severe cold. Later, the Kremlin confirmed that such a request had indeed been made, and for a time, at least since January 29, Russian troops suspended attacks on energy facilities but continued to bomb civilian targets.
A new round of negotiations between Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington was expected to take place on February 1 in Abu Dhabi. However, on the eve of the meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the trilateral talks had been postponed to February 4 and 5.
