Ukraine’s power grid operator said on Tuesday that severe winter weather had left more than 1,000 towns and villages in nine regions without power, and urged residents to save energy as the power system was weakened by Russian strikes, Reuters reported.

Electricity consumption reached high levels this week, as the temperature in many parts of the country dropped to around -15°C, according to network operator Ukrenergo.

“Consumption levels continue to rise due to a significant drop in temperatures across the country. As of this morning, due to bad weather – strong wind, ice – power was cut off in 1,025 settlements,” the company reported in Telegram, adding that electricity consumption in the morning was already 5.8% higher than the previous day.

Ukraine was forced to import electricity from neighboring countries, Romania and Slovakia, to meet demand, Ukrenergo reported.

According to data analyzed by HotNews.ro on Monday, Romania exported almost 1,000 MW of electricity to the Republic of Moldova yesterday morning, but most of this energy goes to Ukraine.

The storm caused significant damage to Ukraine’s distribution networks: strong wind, frost and a thick layer of ice on the equipment delayed repair work, Ukrenergo reported.

Vitaly Kim, the governor of the southern Mykolaiv region, where 215 towns and villages have been cut off, said that the thickness of the ice on the power lines exceeds 5 cm.

Ukrenergo reported that the power system is already operating at full capacity and called on residents to save electricity as much as possible and avoid using several electrical appliances at the same time to help the system cope.

“Currently, there is enough electricity to supply all commercial and household consumers. But the large increase in consumption creates an additional load on power plants, which are already working at their maximum, and they have to increase production very quickly and significantly, which can lead to technological failures,” Ukrenergo explained.

Ukrenergo said that Ukrainian power plants are still recovering from massive Russian strikes last winter, and solar plants cannot operate at full capacity due to dense clouds and bad weather.

Last winter, Russia targeted Ukraine’s power grid with thousands of missiles and drones, causing frequent power outages for millions of people.

Thermal power plants provided about a third of all electricity produced in Ukraine before the war. Ukrenergo also reported an increase in damage to power grids in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, which are located near the front line and in the area of ​​enemy artillery.