KYIV
\nUkrainian authorities endeavored Saturday to restore electricity and water services after recent pummeling by Russian military strikes that vastly damaged infrastructure, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying millions have seen their power restored since blackouts swept the war-battered country days earlier.
\nSkirmishes continued in the east and residents from the southern city of Kherson headed north and west to flee after punishing, deadly bombardments by Russian forces in recent days. The strikes have been seen as attempts at Russian retribution against Ukraine\u2019s beleaguered but defiant people after Ukrainian troops over two week ago liberated the city that had been in Russian hands for many months.
\n\u201cThe key task of today, as well as other days of this week, is energy,\u201d Zelenskyy said in his nightly televised address late Friday. \u201cFrom Wednesday to today we have managed to halve the number of people whose electricity is cut off, to stabilize the system.\u201d
\nHe said, however, that blackouts continued in most regions, including Kyiv, the capital.
\n\u201cIn total, more than 6 million subscribers are affected. On Wednesday evening, almost 12 million subscribers were cut off,\u201d Zelenskyy added.
\nHe allowed himself a rare show of pique about how Kyiv authorities were faring, alluding to \u201cmany complaints\u201d with the rollouts of \u201cpoints of invincibility\u201d \u2014 public centers where residents can stock up on food, water, battery power and other essentials \u2014 in the capital.
\n\u201cPlease pay attention: Kyiv residents need more protection,\u201d he said. \u201cAs of this evening, 600,000 subscribers have been disconnected in the city. Many Kyiv residents were without electricity for more than 20 or even 30 hours.\u201d
\n\u201cI expect quality work from the mayor\u2019s office,\u201d he said, alluding to the administration of Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
\nEarly Saturday, the Kyiv municipal administration said water connections had been restored throughout the city, but that about 130,000 residents remain without electricity.
\nCity authorities said Saturday morning that all power, water, heating and communication services would be restored within 24 hours.
\nMeanwhile, Ukrainians were marking the 90th anniversary of the start of the \u201cHolodomor,\u201d or Great Famine, that killed more than 3 million people over two years as the Soviet government under Josef Stalin confiscated food and grain supplies and deported many Ukrainians.
\nGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz marked the commemoration by drawing parallels with the impact of the war on Ukraine \u2014 a key supplier of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other foodstuffs \u2014 on world markets. Exports from Ukraine have resumed under a U.N.-brokered deal but have still been far short of pre-war levels, driving up global prices.
\n\u201cToday, we stand united in stating that hunger must never again be used as a weapon,\u201d Scholz said in a video message. \u201cThat is why we cannot tolerate what we are witnessing: The worst global food crisis in years with abhorrent consequences for millions of people \u2013 from Afghanistan to Madagascar, from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa.\u201d
\nHe said a World Food Program ship was in the process of delivering Ukrainian grain to Ethiopia, and Germany was adding another 10 million euros to efforts to help expedite grain shipments from Ukraine.
\nIn Kherson, residents continued to flee \u2014 or try to. A salvo of missiles struck the recently liberated city for a second day on Friday.
\n\u201cI have no money, I can\u2019t even buy gas for the car,\u201d said Iryna Rusanovska, standing on the street near the bodies of three people who died from a strike on Thursday. She said wants to take her family to western Ukraine or out of the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV Ukrainian authorities endeavored Saturday to restore electricity and water services after recent pummeling by Russian military strikes that vastly damaged infrastructure, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying millions have seen their power restored since blackouts swept the war-battered country days earlier. Skirmishes continued in the east and residents from the southern city of Kherson headed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-297855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n