Russian Strikes Push Ukraine's Energy Grid Toward Critical Failure

Rolling schedules of planned power cuts have been implemented across Ukraine since October as Russia intensifies strikes on the country's energy grid, leading Ukraine to respond by targeting Russian oil refineries. Officials express growing concern that life will become unsustainable if power supplies cannot be maintained for at least four hours per day, with some families already enduring outages of up to 20 hours. The situation has severely impacted daily life, leaving homes without electricity, running water, or heating as temperatures drop. Major power stations have been reduced to rubble by devastating ballistic missile strikes, leaving key sites completely offline and plunging hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians into darkness.