Kyiv power grid in 'emergency mode' amid Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure

Relentless Russian attacks on energy infrastructure prompted Ukrainian authorities on Friday to announce worsening blackouts around the country's largest cities, with Kyiv's mayor warning that the capital's power grid is working in "emergency mode" with energy supplies down as much as 50 per cent from pre-war levels.

In the Kyiv region, as winter looms, the latest damage to utilities would mean outages of four or more hours a day, according to Ukrenergo, the state operator of Ukraine's high-voltage transmission lines.

But Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba warned "more severe and longer shutdowns will be applied in the coming days."

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city's power grid was operating in "emergency mode," and said he hoped Ukrenergo would find ways to address the shortage "in two to three weeks."

The former boxing world champion also said new air defence equipment has been deployed in the Ukrainian capital to help defend against Russian drone and missile attacks on energy facilities.

In the Kharkiv region, home to Ukraine's second-largest city of the same name, Gov. Oleg Syniehubov said daily one-hour power outages would begin Monday.

Officials across the country have urged people to conserve by reducing electricity consumption during peak hours and avoiding the use of high-voltage appliances.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that 30 per cent of Ukraine's power stations had been destroyed since Russia launched the first wave of targeted infrastructure strikes on Oct. 10.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, Kremlin-appointed officials urged residents not to switch to daylight savings time along with Kyiv and the rest of the country. Russia switched to permanent winter time in 2014.

"We live in the Russian Federation, and our city lives by Moscow time," said Alexander Volga, the Russian-installed mayor of Enerhodar, where Europe's largest nuclear power plant is located.

Meanwhile, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) planned to visit two locations where Russia alleged, without citing evidence, that Ukraine was building radioactive "dirty bombs."

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said inspectors are being dispatched after a written request from the Ukrainian government.

Moscow has repeatedly made the unfounded claim that Ukraine is preparing to detonate a device that spreads radioactive waste on its own territory while trying to blame Russia. Western officials have dismissed the claim as misinformation, possibly designed as a pretext for Russia's own military escalation.

Meanwhile, Russian missile and artillery barrages pounded targets across Ukraine. Several towns across the Dnieper River from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant were struck, the presidential office said.