Navigating through darkness: Ukraine’s emergency blackouts return after Russia pounds infrastructure

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — During daytime, entire districts of Ukraine's capital are disconnected from the power grid to save energy. Traffic lights stop, choking traffic, accompanied by the constant rumble of generators installed outside cafes and shops.

Ukraine, including Kyiv, is struggling to cope with a new wave of rolling blackouts after relentless Russian attacks took out half the country’s power generation capacity.

Residents and businesses of Kyiv are adapting to the absence of electricity using generators, power banks, and flashlights and even recalculating their bathroom visits. Heavy damage inflicted to the country’s power system has left millions feeling uncertain about Ukraine’s ability to meet the national electricity demand after the warm weather months are over and the weather turns cold.

“I light my apartment as our grandparents used to — with candles and small flashlights,” said Rudoy, a 40-year-old insurance agent from Israel who relocated from Tel Aviv to Kyiv in 2023 after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

He said that he wanted a new life despite the war — to live side-by-side with old friends and reside in a milder climate — but he hadn't foreseen the inconveniences of living without power. Rudoy bought an apartment on the seventh floor of a newly built 25-story high rise with no gas system or water supply that's wholly dependent on electricity.

“I have to adjust my life to the blackout schedules, otherwise it is impossible to live normally — not even to use a toilet at times,” Rudoy told The Associated Press.

A friend in a nearby district typically has power when he doesn’t, which makes his life easier. Work often gets done at a cafe that has a generator, but there’s a catch.

“Even if you find a free table at a cafe nearby, working generators are very noisy and spread diesel fumes," he said. "That’s why not many cafes that operate during blackouts are actually good to work in.”

Ukraine is struggling to meet electricity demand as systematic attacks on its power infrastructure have intensified since March, forcing utilities to ration household supplies over the last three months. The country’s top officials repeatedly called on allied countries to provide more air defense systems to protect its power plants from Russian missiles and drones, but tangible damage had already been inflicted.

The blackouts in Kyiv are the worse since the early months of the war when Russian strikes on the country’s power grid led to major winter-time blackouts that led to authorities setting up communal heating areas and hundreds of emergency points where residents could drink tea, recharge their phones and get help.

“As of today, due to missile and drone attacks, we have lost 9.2 gigawatt of electricity (generating capabilities),” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in early June. Despite having the capacity to import 2.2 gigawatts of electricity from European countries, Ukraine is importing 1.7 gigawatts, Shmyhal said.

Apart from direct imports, Ukraine is working to attract foreign investment to its private energy sector. At a summit in Berlin this month, Ukraine presented investment projects that could enable additional capacity of 1 gigawatt, said Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of power utility Ukrenergo.

But in the short-term, Ukraine’s readiness before next winter looks highly uncertain considering the damages to its energy system, the feasible outlook for reconstruction, and electricity demand.

Constant blackouts bring disruption to many city residents’ daily rituals. Official power outage schedules published regularly by Ukrainian energy operators make it easier to plan the day. But energy companies often resort to unscheduled emergency blackouts when the city overconsumes electricity at the peak hours.

The circumstances force businesses and households to rely on alternative sources of electricity and light to get through a day as the summer heat makes more and more people use air conditioners. And many are worried the situation could get even worse.

Small businesses don’t always keep up, with the energy situation rapidly changing every week.

Oleksandr Solovei, the 25-year-old owner of Informatyka coffee shop in Kyiv, just plans to buy a generator, which typically costs around $1,000, to keep his business open during blackouts.

In the meantime, he must improvise. “We prepare hot water in advance, to cook matcha and teas. Cooking coffee at times like this is impossible. The coffee machine consumes too much energy,” Solovei told the AP.

A fiber-optic internet cable and a power bank that keeps the router on attract patrons to Informatyka, where they can work on their laptops. Still, customers have thinned out since the blackouts began.

“We think the situation will get worse (by winter),” Solovei said. “We already plan to buy a generator, powerful enough to brew coffee, light the space, and charge the devices of our visitors. We are preparing for a hard winter.”

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A general view of the central district of the city is seen during a blackout in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024 (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A man is working on his laptop at a coffee shop, which operates during blackouts in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. Ukraine is experiencing rolling blackouts as Russia intensified strikes targeting energy infrastructure over the past three months. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Oleksandr Solovei, 25, the owner of the coffee shop Informatyka, poses for the portrait during a blackout in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. Solovei plans to buy a generator, which typically costs around $1,000, to keep his business open during blackouts. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Friends sit in a coffee shop during a blackout in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A barman speaks with clients at a coffee shop during power cuts in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. Ukraine, including Kyiv, is struggling to cope with a new wave of rolling blackouts after relentless Russian attacks took out half the country’s power generation capacity. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Kateryna Barannyk, 30, a sales consultant of the outdoor equipment store "Gorgany" poses for the portrait during a blackout in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A man looks for a backpack in an outdoor equipment store during blackouts in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

People walk along a road during a blackout in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A barman is seen working through the window of a coffee shop during power cuts in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. Ukraine, including Kyiv, is struggling to cope with a new wave of rolling blackouts after relentless Russian attacks took out half the country’s power generation capacity. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

LONDON (AP) — Anti-immigration British politician Nigel Farage on Friday criticized a worker for his Reform UK party who suggested migrants crossing the English Channel in boats should be used for “target practice.”

But Farage later suggested that the episode had been a “stitch-up” by Reform's opponents.

Party activist Andrew Parker was heard suggesting army recruits with guns should be posted to “just shoot” migrants landing on beaches, in recordings made by an undercover reporter from Channel 4. He also used a racial slur about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent. Another campaign worker called the LGBT pride flag “degenerate.”

Reform UK said it had cut ties with the two men. Farage said he was “dismayed” by the comments and called some of the language “reprehensible.”

“The appalling sentiments expressed by some in these exchanges bear no relation to my own views, those of the vast majority of our supporters or Reform UK,” he said in a statement.

Sunak said the slur used by Parker “hurts and it makes me angry,” especially since his two daughters had to hear it. He said Farage “has some questions to answer.”

“As prime minister, but more importantly as a father of two young girls, it’s my duty to call out this corrosive and divisive behavior,” Sunak said Friday on the campaign trail in northeast England.

On Friday, Farage sought to cast doubt on the Channel 4 report after it emerged that Parker is an actor.

"Folks, this is the biggest stitch-up I’ve ever seen in my life," he said in a video for supporters.

Parker confirmed that he's an actor, but said that he volunteered for Reform UK, because he believes in its message.

Channel 4 News said it stood by its “rigorous and duly impartial journalism.”

“We met Mr. Parker for the first time at Reform UK party headquarters, where he was a Reform party canvasser," the channel said in a statement.

Channel 4 News said that Parker was covertly filmed by an undercover investigator inside the Reform UK campaign and that no one was paid for the footage.

The party is running candidates in hundreds of seats for the U.K. election on July 4, aiming to siphon off voters from the dominant Conservative and Labour parties. It has disowned several candidates after media reported on their far-right ties or offensive comments.

Speaking at a campaign event on Thursday, Farage said that “one or two people let us down and we let them go.” But he said in other cases of criticized comments, “in most cases they’re just speaking like ordinary folk.”

Farage, a right-wing populist and ally of Donald Trump, shook up the election campaign when he announced in early June that he was running.

He has sought to focus the election debate on immigration, particularly the tens of thousands of people each year who try to reach the U.K. in small boats across the English Channel.

The migrants — mostly asylum-seekers fleeing poverty and conflict — account for a small portion of overall migration to Britain. But the struggle to stop the hazardous crossings has become an emotive political issue.

Opponents have long accused Farage of fanning racist attitudes toward migrants and condemned what they call his scapegoat rhetoric.

Farage, 60, is making his eighth attempt to be elected to Parliament after seven failed bids. Polls suggest he has a comfortable lead in the race to represent the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea.

While Reform is likely to win only a handful of seats, at most, in the 650-seat House of Commons, Farage says his goal is to get a foothold and lead the “real” opposition to a Labour Party government if the Conservatives lose power after 14 years in office.

He is modeling his strategy on Canada’s Reform Party, which helped push that country’s Conservatives to the verge of wipeout in the 1993 election before reshaping Canadian conservative politics.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak listens to a question from a radio journalist during an election campaign visit to the Holy Trinity Rosehill CofE Primary school in Teeside, northeast England, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage gestures during a meeting while on the general election campaign trail, in Boston, England, Thursday June 27, 2024. (Paul Marriott/PA via AP)

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage speaks at a meeting while on the general election campaign trail, in Boston, England, Thursday June 27, 2024. (Paul Marriott/PA via AP)