Hard winter! In Ukraine, they started cutting power since summer to survive the cold months

Russia has launched its largest airstrike against Ukraine on Monday, affecting energy infrastructure across the country. More strikes were carried out Tuesday morning, CNN reported. The Ukrainian government and major energy companies did not disclose the extent of the damage, but the attack apparently knocked out power to millions of people.

Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK announced power cuts in a number of regions, including Kyiv, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk. For residents on the western outskirts of the capital, this meant six hours of darkness, followed by two hours of electricity from 2am to 4am.

Planned outages add to people's inconvenience, but at least they allow them to plan for work in the event of a power outage. The fact that such suspensions are imposed already in the summer is particularly worrying. The situation can get much worse in a few months when electricity demand is higher during the cold and dark winter.

"The key task is to survive the winter, to ensure the energy supply of critical infrastructure, the population and the economy," Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal told reporters on Tuesday. Now the focus is on repairs and restoration, he said.

Ukrainians are used to living under the constant threat of blackouts. Monday's attack stood out for its scale, but it was not unusual: Energy infrastructure has a long history of suffering from Russian attacks. In Kiev, the authorities have created "points of invulnerability” - tents and other places where people can charge electronics and use the Internet during power outages.

Many Ukrainian cities have started investing in solar energy. Most businesses, from small food stalls to huge shopping malls, now have their own generators, whose loud hum has become synonymous with power outages.