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Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy supply for days. Putin’s military is targeting power plants and power lines in particular, and about 40 percent of the country’s energy infrastructure has been reportedly destroyed.

War-torn Ukraine presents a major winter challenge: Houses need to be heated, water needs to be transported to apartments – but the power grid is interrupted time and again. How are things from here? The most important questions.

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What is the current situation?

Very tense at the moment. The Russian army is attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missiles and drones. A number of power plants, substations, transmission networks, lines and infrastructure buildings were damaged or completely destroyed.

According to the latest information from the Kiev government, 30 to 40 percent of the country’s total energy infrastructure has been damaged in recent days. Russia has carried out more than 300 airstrikes on Ukrainian power plants since October 10.

“We can certainly cope with a situation where we will be without water, without light and heat or with great restrictions for weeks or even months,” Oleksiy Arestovych said Thursday evening.

Where is the situation particularly critical?

Almost everywhere. Because the attacks are no longer limited to individual areas, but are reported from all parts of the country. The electricity grid is particularly affected.

Hundreds of thousands of people are cut off from critical infrastructure. Last Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported power outages in hundreds of towns and cities.

It is estimated that about 140,000 people are dependent on humanitarian aid in the areas around Kharkiv that have been recaptured from Ukraine alone. The United Nations reports that millions of people no longer have the opportunity to cook.

The Ukrainian capital alone was hit three times recently: According to Ukrainian sources, Russian missiles hit energy supply facilities in the more rural Desnyansky district of Kiev. Dozens of power and water pipes, power stations, pumping stations and combined heat and power plants were damaged. The power grid came to a temporary standstill.

In Schytomyr, nearly 150 kilometers west of Kiev, power and water supplies were cut after attacks. In the southeastern city of Dnipro, an important financial and industrial city in the Dnepropetrovsk region, there were two impacts on power plants. Major damage after a Russian attack was also reported at a thermal power plant in Burshtyn in the west near the Polish border.

Ukraine’s Kyiv Independent newspaper reported Thursday that attacks had cut off water supplies in the northeastern region of Sumy, where about one million people live. Here too in the cityscape, the effects of Russian attacks were clearly visible: the local public transport and street lighting were not working.

In addition, the situation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is essential for southern Ukraine’s energy supply, remains particularly delicate. The nuclear power plant is occupied by Russia and Ukrainian workers must continue operations under the occupiers. From there, power lines in various parts of the country lead to supplies, but are also partially attacked and paralyzed.

The security level has never been lower than in the current situation, director Igor Muraschov warned in a recent interview. In addition to the failure of electricity generation, there is also the fear of a meltdown as a result of an attack.

What is Ukraine doing now?

In response to the powerful attacks, the Ukrainian government plans to cut energy consumption by 20 percent nationwide. To do this, it is now shutting down nationwide delivery systems.

On Thursday and Friday, for example, the power in towns and villages was switched off for four hours as planned. People can see online when the electricity goes out and where, and they exchange ideas on Telegram. Meanwhile, the cityscape is also changing in many places: companies are switching off illuminated banners, billboards are no longer illuminated at night.

At the same time, the government is asking its citizens to save energy. Ukrainians should therefore consume significantly less electricity between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. President Zelensky and the Department of Energy are calling on the people to help the country in this way.

The Department of Energy wrote on Twitter: “Avoid using energy-intensive electrical appliances during peak hours.” A diagram shows the associated devices. Washing machines may therefore be used between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. and heating between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. only to a limited extent.

However, it is heard from several cities that the electricity goes out again and again and the water supply is cut off. A Ukrainian woman who fled to Austria on October 9 tells t-online that energy supplies are now a major problem for families in Ukraine. Even with hers, she had to stay behind. Her grandfather in eastern Ukraine had a power outage for several hours a day. There is a great deal of concern about deterioration in the winter.

Her family, who lives partly in central Ukraine, prepares for the cold season by repairing an old boiler, stocking up on supplies and collecting warm clothes. Her father bought wood to heat her grandmother’s house in the winter. “And that in the 21st century,” she says. “That’s absurd.” Next, the family wants to buy a generator.

At the same time, the reconstruction of destroyed power plants is being carried out throughout Ukraine. For example, on October 8, Ukrainian professionals managed to repair one of the main damaged 750 kV power lines at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

What scenarios threaten in Ukraine?

The United Nations fears a humanitarian disaster in Ukraine if the energy infrastructure is largely destroyed in the winter. Hundreds of thousands of people have limited access to food, water, gas, electricity and medical care, said Denise Brown, coordinator of the United Nations Humanitarian Aid Program in Ukraine. Without electricity and heating, many people would probably freeze to death.

It is expected that this will also lead to more people going to safer countries. United Nations estimates that the number of new refugees from Ukraine in neighboring Poland could be between 500,000 and 750,000 by the end of the year. So half could stay in Poland, while the others could move on to other European countries. Romania, Moldova and Germany also expect more people from Ukraine.

How does the west help?

Organizations such as the United Nations and many states, including the US and EU countries, are helping Ukraine rebuild devastated facilities. Appliances and equipment for the power supply are provided. In the past, Ukrainian diplomats had urgently requested generators, their components and spare parts.

In addition, humanitarian aid continues through non-governmental organizations that provide warm clothing, water or shelter.

How can we help if we have to save energy ourselves?

Rouven Stubbe, energy economist and expert on energy and climate policy in Ukraine at Berlin Economics, answers this question: “The needs differ significantly. The crisis in Germany is a crisis on the gas market, even if it affects the electricity market. But our problem is the lack of gas – our infrastructure is not being massively destroyed, our system is intact. We can certainly supply transformers, lines or generators.”

It is also conceivable that the EU with financial aid will make electricity cheaper for Ukraine, which is currently too expensive for Ukraine on the European market. Then exporting the electricity can help the country.

In addition, the federal government could help grid operators and other energy companies if they send equipment and know-how to Ukraine, which is already happening on its own initiative, says Stubbe. Financial compensation could be an incentive to send more equipment to rebuild.

However, Stubbe points out one thing: in addition to the electricity grid, the gas supply in Ukraine is also potentially unsafe. Ukraine uses some of the gas that Slovakia imports from Russia, for example, and exports through Ukraine.

If Russia were to stop this transit through Ukraine, the aggressor could do even more damage to the country. Then, Stubbe says, the EU should also think about supplying gas to Ukraine in times of its own gas shortage – if it is to avoid an even bigger humanitarian disaster.