In Ukraine's Pokrovsk, Electricity Is Last Source Of Heat And Hope

Pokrovsk, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Nov, 2024) Leaning against his grocery stand in the nearly deserted market of Pokrovsk, east Ukraine, Maximilian Komashniov struggled to see how his frontline city could go through winter without electricity.

Strikes from nearing combat have already cut central heating in Pokrovsk, around seven kilometres (four miles) from Russian troops in the eastern Donbas region.

"We survive on electricity," said 25-year-old Komashniov, who added residents used electric heaters and gas to stay warm.

Snow has already dusted the streets of the city, whose population has dropped from 60,000 to 11,500 since the war began, and many are preparing for a tough winter ahead.

Moscow's forces are ramping up efforts to seize the Donbas region, while renewing their campaign of strikes on the whole country's energy infrastructure in a bid to break Ukrainian morale.

But the young shopkeeper appeared optimistic.

"We won't be abandoned... everything will be fine for Ukraine," Komashniov said, speaking to AFP last week.

On Thursday, Russia launched a massive wave of fresh strikes on Ukraine, cutting power to more than a million households and triggering emergency outages across the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces had used cluster munitions in the attacks, accusing Moscow of a "despicable escalation" against civilians.

Pokrovsk still had partial supplies of electricity after Thursday's barrage, the municipal administration said, but power shortages and stabilisation outages loom.

Wrapped in her purple fake fur coat, Lidya shuffled through the market holding a few groceries.

She was making her way back home before the 3:00 pm war-imposed curfew and as the cold of night fell on the city.

Lidya, who declined to give her family name, complained about her "rotten heater", but admitted she would find herself helpless without the electricity that powered it.

"I just want peace," she said, exhausted.

To make sure residents like her can survive, Vitaly Asinenko and his team at distribution company DTEK Grids worked to reconnect the cables torn out by shells or explosive drones.

"There are still civilians and soldiers. Everyone needs electricity because there's no more heating," the engineer explained.

He remained calm despite the constant danger, including when a drone eerily whizzed above his head.

"It's a Ukrainian drone, don't worry," he said.

Asinenko was more concerned about the guided bombs or artillery strikes hitting the city daily.

Not far from where Asinenko's team worked, an unexploded mortar munition lay on the ground -- yet another sign of the nearby combat between Ukraine's army and Russian forces pushing to conquer the mining town.

Asinenko was convinced that "the town is prepared to defend itself".

Like many men who stayed to work in Pokrovsk, Asinenko sent his family to relative safety further away from the front line.

He decided to send his son and wife away after a ballistic missile killed two of his neighbours in their sleep, and injured his wife.

The neighbour's son had run out of the house, the engineer recalled.

"He was shouting: 'please save my mom' and ran right up to us. We were in shock."

Houses in ruins, destroyed by strikes, lined the snow-covered roads of Pokrovsk.

Most residents navigated the city on their bikes, prompting Asinenko to joke that Pokrovsk had turned into Amsterdam.

Some pushed bicycles along the road, moving in with friends who owned coal-fired boilers that can keep them warm even during power cuts.

"The most important thing is to have heating. If our networks hold up, Pokrovsk will live. If they collapse and there is no electricity, there will be nothing left to do here," Asinenko said.