How Ukraine's war-hardened cities kicked into 'blackout mode' as Russia plunged entire regions into the winter dark

"Their prepared "blackout mode" response provides some insight into how urban centers might steel themselves for energy crises in wartime, especially during cold months. Ukraine's winter can turn brutal in January and February, when temperatures typically drop to 18°F. Mass blackouts can also disrupt water and sewage systems, hospitals, public transportation, and road control, including traffic lights. Both Ukrainian troops and civilians have long learned to cope with frequent energy shortages in the winter, maintaining backup generators, battery-powered lamps, and stockpiles of coal or gas."

"But Moscow's latest attacks on Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, two eastern Ukrainian regions, plunged both areas into almost total darkness this week. Regional leaders have described it as their biggest energy crisis since 2022, when Ukrainians first faced wartime power outages. Borys Filatov, the mayor of Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk's largest city, said the situation there was one of the most severe in the country and had risen to the level of a "national emergency.""

Russian strikes on energy infrastructure plunged Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk into near-total darkness, causing widespread loss of heat and water for over one million people. Local leaders called the outages the region's worst energy crisis since 2022 and declared emergency measures. Mass blackouts disrupted water and sewage systems, hospitals, public transportation, and traffic control. Urban centers activated preplanned "blackout mode" responses, opening mapped emergency shelters or "invincibility points" equipped with heat, communications, and basic supplies. Cities maintained lists of schools, municipal buildings, and metro stations as shelter locations. Residents and troops relied on backup generators, battery lamps, and fuel stockpiles to cope.

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