After the massive Ukrainian attack, thousands of residents of the Belgorod region found themselves without electricity, heating and water. Footage from the city shows life in the dark, where people help each other with flashlights and cars.
After the Ukrainian missile attack, 600,000 residents in Russia’s Belgorod region were left without electricity, heating and water, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported. He confirmed on the Telegram platform that local authorities are working to restore supplies, but the situation is “extremely difficult,” he said. TASR took over the report from the Reuters agency.
Reuters footage from the city of Belgorod showed that street lights were not working in the area and local residents were using flashlights and car lights to find their way around.
Belgorod region under attack
The Belgorod region is adjacent to Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and, according to Reuters, has been a regular target of Ukrainian attacks since the beginning of the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv in February 2022.
Gladkov also reported on Friday that as a result of the Ukrainian night attack, more than half a million people in the Belgorod region were left without electricity and heating, and almost 200,000 without water.
Energy infrastructure in danger
Mutual attacks on energy infrastructure by both parties are now relatively common. According to the AFP agency, as during previous winters, in recent weeks, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. Kiev and its allies see this as a deliberate strategy by Moscow, which they say aims to weaken the civilian population.
Russian attacks on Kyiv on Friday night damaged the capital’s critical infrastructure and left half of Kiev’s apartment buildings – nearly 6,000 – without heat. The city also experienced outages in its water supply.
Extreme freezing temperatures
Reuters points out that temperatures in most of Russia and Ukraine have dropped well below freezing in recent days.
