Ukraine Promises Shelters For Citizens In Winter: There Is Water, Warming To Free Internet

Illustration of Ukrainian citizens. (Wikimedia Commons/Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - The Ukrainian authorities promised shelter with heat and water, as well as encourage their people to save energy ahead of winter, when Russian attacks paralyzed their energy infrastructure.

"Special shelters will be set up across Ukraine to provide electricity, heating, water, internet, mobile phone connections and free pharmacies around the clock," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Russian attacks have been turning off electricity for a long time, affecting up to 10 million consumers at once. Ukraine's national power grid operator said on Wednesday more blackouts would be needed across the country.

"If a massive Russian attack occurs again and it is clear the force will not recover for hours, the holding center will operate with all major services," President Zelensky said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this week, about 8,500 sets of power plants are imported into Ukraine every day.

The first winter snow has fallen in most parts of the country over the past week.

Authorities have warned of blackouts that could affect millions of people by the end of March, the latest impact of Russia's nine-month invasion that has killed tens of thousands, millions of people displaced and hit the global economy.

The Russian attack on Ukrainian energy facilities follows a series of battlefield setbacks that include the withdrawal of troops from the southern city of Kherson to the east bank of the Dnipro River that divides the country.

A week after the city was recaptured by Ukrainian troops, residents in Kherson knocked down Russian propaganda advertising boards and replaced it with pro-Ukraine signs.

"When our soldiers came in, these posters were printed and handed over to us. We found workers to put up the posters, and we cleared the ads as quickly as possible," said Antonina Dobrozhenska, who works in the government communications department.

It is known that fighting raged in the east, where Russia suppressed attacks along the western frontline of Donetsk City, which its proxies have held since 2014.

In Crimea, Russia's annexed Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, Russian air defenses were activated and two drone strikes were successfully cleared on Tuesday, including one attack targeting a power plant near Sevastopol, the regional governor said.