As utility workers fought to restore power, water, and heating in the wake of widespread strikes in recent weeks, officials claimed on Sunday that Russian soldiers shelled multiple sites in eastern and southern Ukraine overnight.
Infrastructure teams in Ukraine were fanning out in round-the-clock deployments to restore vital basic services after a withering bombardment of Russian artillery attacks on at least two occasions over the past two weeks, as many Ukrainians dealt with only a few hours of electricity per day, if any.
Ukrenergo, the state power grid operator, said on Sunday that electricity producers are now supplying about 80% of demand. That’s an improvement from Saturday’s 75%, the company said.
Russian forces may be getting ready to evacuate the sizable Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility, which they seized in March shortly after their invasion, according to the chairman of Ukraine’s state-run nuclear energy company, who made the statement on Sunday.
In the partially-occupied southeast Zaporizhzhia region, where the front line has scarcely moved in months, such a manoeuvre would represent a significant battlefield change. Fears of a nuclear catastrophe have grown as a result of frequent shelling near the plant.
“In recent weeks we are effectively receiving information that signs have appeared that they are possibly preparing to leave the (plant),” Petro Kotin, head of Energoatom, said on national television.