Ukraine’s national grid operator, Ukrenergo, announced it will enforce hour-long power cuts across the country on Monday evening due to demand exceeding agreed limits. The rolling outages will affect both domestic and industrial consumers between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. local time (1300 to 1900 GMT).
In a statement released on Telegram, Ukrenergo specified that these power cuts will not impact critical infrastructure facilities that provide essential services.
This measure comes in response to intensified targeting of Ukraine’s energy system by Russia over the past two months, which have significantly damaged the country’s thermal and hydropower generation capacities.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has reported a loss of approximately 9 gigawatts of energy-generating capacity since March due to these attacks.
In addition to the power cuts, the Ukrainian government has instructed all ministries and regional authorities to cease using air conditioning and to turn off external lighting, as part of broader efforts to manage the energy shortfall.