A high-voltage substation can be seen a few hundred meters away, concrete slabs are crooked. A few hours earlier, an Iranian Shahed 136 drone was hit. Police officers keep the press and other curious people at a distance.

Taking pictures is forbidden, it would only make Russian military planners smarter. You should meet this power supply again at Zhytomyr. Withdrawals would make that easier.

Zhytomyr is a two-hour drive west of Kyiv. This is the second time the Russians have turned off the electricity here. “It’s running as usual,” says the traffic manager, because the traffic lights aren’t working anywhere.

“At 8:40 a.m. we were attacked by the rashists,” said Vitaliy Bunechko, the governor of Zhytomyr province. He uses the popular portmanteau of “Russians” and “Fascists”. “Immediately, 150,000 of our residents were without electricity.” The city has more than 250,000 inhabitants.

reserve capacity

“The Russian president probably wants us to freeze and the lights go out during the coldest time of the year. But we are prepared. And we repeat: we have spare capacity,” said the militant governor, bearded and in camouflage, just like his chief president Zelenskyy, who reported that 30 percent of the power supply in his country was shut down.

This deficiency is compensated for primarily by cuts in public facilities such as street lighting. Households are being spared as much as possible, as in Zhytomyr, where electricity is restored in most places during the day. But at night it’s pitch black on the street. Dark trolleybuses line the curb, their two pantographs down, stranded as the drones hit their target.

On the Pokrovskastraat there is an old shopping area with dilapidated buildings. The electricity was shut off in the entire area. Here and there you can hear the generators roaring. Because butchers and fishmongers can throw away their products if they have been in the freezer for too long without being cooled.

For now, the butcher’s wife isn’t worried. “Last Monday the distribution station was also bombed, then the power was back at 5 p.m. We only have a problem when we are without power for a long time.”

mason jars and wood

She is preparing for a cold winter without electricity at home. “For example, I preserve meat in mason jars. And we have built up a large stock of wood. I live in the country and am not dependent on district heating. So I can get through the winter well,” she says optimistically. As soon as I want to leave the store, the lights of the refrigerator go on again. “You see,” she says.

Further in the park, two older women are sitting on a bench. Already packed on this hot day, hat on, thick coat on. How will it be in winter? “To be on the safe side, I’ve already bought new boots with a thick wool lining, and when it gets really cold, you need to wear several layers. Worst case I can go to a cousin in the country who has his own stove.” She smiles, revealing three gold front teeth.

Governor Bunechko poses among the painted Czech hedgehogs. The normally rusted metal armored crosses are brightened up here with floral motifs typical of Ukraine.

He is not fooled by the attack: “At the beginning of the war, the Russians were at the gates of the city and we had to collect more than a hundred bombs. We endured and pushed back the Russians. Also this new one.” . We will survive attacks.”

If the district heating fails in winter, people can go to tent camps that he wants to build. They are then heated with burzhuiki, small separate wood and gas stoves.

They are then placed right in the center where a young entrepreneur has his café. He’s furious about the attack: “The Russians aren’t doing anything at the front. That’s why they’re committing such devastating acts of terrorism to destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure.”

It’s now 5:30 p.m., his seat is still dark and the coffee machine is cold. He brewed tea on a Primus fire for a single customer. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a lost day. “People don’t want tea, they want coffee.”