Millions of Ukrainians regain electricity after Russian attacks on the network

MILLIONS of beleaguered Ukrainians regained electricity yesterday after Russian attacks on the country’s power grid.

Six million remained isolated following the missile bombardments intended to freeze the population during the winter.

The attacks – seen as retaliation against Ukraine driving Russian forces out of the southern city of Kherson – destroyed three nuclear power plants on Wednesday.

Twelve million homes have been blocked, including some in neighboring Moldova, which is connected to Ukraine’s energy grid.

In Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, 130,000 residents were still cut off, although water has been restored across the city.

Local authorities announced early yesterday that power and communications would be restored within 24 hours.

President Volodymr Zelensky has accused his tyrannical Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of trying to “starve” Ukrainians with attacks on infrastructure.

He said the strategy would not dampen Ukraine’s determination to drive out the invading forces.

But he added: “The key task today, as well as the other days of this week, is energy.”

The rush to restore essential supplies came when Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo met Mr Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday.

He said Belgium would send more humanitarian and military aid.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians were celebrating the 90th anniversary of the start of the Holodomor, or Great Famine.

It resulted in the deaths of over three million people in 1932 and 1933 when the Soviet government confiscated food and grain and expelled many Ukrainians.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz drew a parallel with the impact of the ongoing war on Ukraine – a key supplier of wheat, barley and sunflower oil to the world.