随着夜幕降临乌克兰首都，俄罗斯导弹袭击关键能源基础设施的后果变得显而易见。
基辅周围的许多地方没有路灯，人们带着手电筒或者只是开着灯的手机四处导航。甚至交通信号灯也会时不时地熄灭——这是居民们正在习惯的新现实的一部分。
10月10日，俄罗斯对多个地区的能源设施进行首次大规模袭击后，乌克兰人被警告可能会停电，并被敦促尽可能节约用电。最受欢迎的电视广告(当然是在灯亮着、电视正常工作的时候)是政府呼吁帮助稳定能源网络:尽可能多地关闭电器，尤其是在早上7点到9点和晚上7点到11点之间
乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)表示，由于俄罗斯周三的导弹袭击，超过1000万乌克兰人目前没有电。他说，其中大多数在文尼察州、敖德萨州、苏梅州和基辅。
基辅地区的州长周四表示，至少78%的客户受到这样或那样的停电影响。市长维塔利·克利钦科说，上周，仅基辅就有35万户家庭断电，几乎是整个城市的一半。
此外，成千上万的居民每天使用公共交通工具，包括地铁、电车和无轨电车线路的庞大网络——所有这些都需要电力，但也需要省电。因此，更少的服务和更长的间隔:等待地铁列车10分钟而不是2-3分钟是一种新的规范，如果服务没有完全停止的话，每次当空中警报发出另一次导弹袭击的威胁时都会发生这种情况。
官员们警告称，最糟糕的情况还在后面。他们表示，能源公司已经没有备件来修复必要的基础设施，并呼吁国际合作伙伴提供紧急技术帮助。但任何供应都需要时间，目前人们被告知不仅要为计划停电做准备，还要为持续数小时的紧急停电做准备。
乌克兰最大的能源公司DTEK的首席执行官Dmytro Sakharukm说，这将是最好的情况，他补充说，一个更现实的情况包括永久停电，有计划地不时供电。
没有多少居民会非常乐观地接受这些警告，因为天气也不在他们一边。周四晚上基辅下了第一场雪，预计周末还会下更多雪，随着气温骤降，供暖网络对电力的需求将越来越大，能源系统的压力将越来越大。
基辅和该地区的大多数家庭都受到断电的影响，但这只是运气问题。
这在很大程度上取决于你在基辅的确切居住地，以及哪些发电机和变压器设施或电力线遭到了破坏。总的来说，第聂伯河左岸的居民受到的影响要严重得多，因为该地区有更多的工业设施和住宅需要更多的电力。
基辅外约3英里的小镇Schaslyve的居民Serhiy Holichenko告诉ABC新闻，外面的温度还不是一个主要问题，但他担心他的电炉会通电。
“你永远不知道你什么时候能做饭或加热你的饭菜，”他说。
Ukrainians endure power outages amid Russian strikes on infrastructure
As darkness descends on the Ukrainian capital, the consequences of the waves of Russian missile strikes against critical energy infrastructure become apparent.
There's no street lighting in many places around Kyiv, with people carrying flashlights or just their mobile phones with lights on to navigate around. Even traffic lights go off from time to time -- all part of the new reality that residents are getting used to.
After the first massive Russian strike on Oct. 10 on energy facilities in various regions, Ukrainians have been warned of expected blackouts and outages and urged to save as much electricity as possible. The most popular commercial to watch on TV (that's when the lights are on and the TV works, of course) is the government appeal to help stabilize the energy network: switch off as many appliances as possible, especially from 7-9 a.m. and between 7-11 p.m.
As a result of Russian missile attacks on Wednesday, more than 10 million Ukrainians are currently without electricity, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Most of them are in Vinnytsia, Odesa, Sumy regions and Kyiv, he said.
The governor of Kyiv region said Thursday that at least 78% of customers are affected by power outages in one way or another. Last week, 350,000 households in Kyiv alone were without electricity, roughly half of the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Then there's public transport used by hundreds of thousands of residents every day with a vast network of metro, tramway and trolleybus lines -- all needing power, yet needed to save power. Hence, less services and longer intervals between them: waiting for the metro train for 10 minutes instead of 2-3 minutes is a new norm, if service hasn't been stopped altogether as it happens every time when air sirens signal the threat of another missile strike.
The worst is yet to come, officials warn, saying energy companies have run out of spare parts to repair essential infrastructure and appealing to international partners for urgent technical help. But any supplies will take time and for now people are told to prepare not just for planned blackouts but for emergency outages lasting hours.
This would be the best case scenario, says Dmytro Sakharukm, the CEO of DTEK, the biggest energy company in Ukraine, adding that a more realistic scenario includes having permanent blackouts with planned electricity supplies at intervals.
Workers repair infrastructure in a power plant that was damaged by a Russian air attack in October, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 04, 2022.
Ed Ram/Getty Images
Not many residents will take those warnings with great optimism as the weather is not on their side either. With the first snow in Kyiv overnight on Thursday and more expected by the weekend, pressure will be mounting on energy systems as plunging temperatures mean the heating network will be more and more hungry for power.
The majority of households in Kyiv and the region have been affected by outages, yet it's a matter of luck.
Much of it depends on where exactly you live in Kyiv and which generator and transformer facilities or power lines have been damaged. In general, residents on the left bank of Dnipro River have been affected much worse due to the higher number of industrial facilities and residences in the area that require more power.
Serhiy Holichenko, a resident of Schaslyve, a town about 3 miles outside Kyiv, told ABC News that the temperature outside was not yet a major concern but he is worried about his electric stove getting power.
"You never know when you'll be able to cook or just heat your meal," he said.
