CHERNIHIV: Ukrainian cook Natalia Meshok leaves home at 2 a.m. for the nursery where she works, using night-time hours when power supply is more or less stable to prepare food for dozens of children.
Meshok, 59, lives and works in the northern city of Chernihiv, which has been hammered by repeated Russian drone and missile attacks on its power infrastructure in recent weeks, causing regular blackouts and disrupting daily life.
“Completely empty and dark. It’s a bit scary, but you realize you have to go because there are children here,” she said, standing in a dark kitchen where pots of food rested on the stove ready to be served when the kindergarten opened.
Chernihiv was one of the first cities to feel the brunt of intensifying Russian strikes on electricity and gas facilities across Ukraine, including in the capital Kyiv where hundreds of thousands of households lost power after an Oct. 10 attack.
RUSSIA TAKES AIM AT POWER SECTOR, HEATING
