From BBC News · · 1m 30s
Ukraine's hardest winter yet, says the UN
A senior UN official says Ukraine enters winter on a weak base, with a race on to fix the grid before the cold hits.
In brief
A senior UN official says Ukraine enters winter on a weak base, with a race on to fix the grid before the cold hits. Ukraine's winter risk is not the cold itself, it is whether repair crews can restore heat, power and water faster than strikes take them out. Originally reported by BBC News.
The toughest winter yet
Alexander De Croo, head of the UN development agency, told the BBC that Ukraine faces its hardest winter since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.
“This winter is going to be the toughest one since the war”
A race against the clock
De Croo, the UN's third most senior official, says crews are scrambling to repair the power network before temperatures plummet.
Faster drones, harder to stop
Russia has begun using jet-powered drones that Ukraine's air defences struggle to intercept, in round-the-clock attacks focused on Kyiv.
Infrastructure in the crosshairs
Strikes have hit petrol stations, warehouses, factories, business centres and transmission lines. Ukraine keeps striking Russian gas and oil sites. Both sides deny targeting civilians.
“There is absolutely no justification for that”
Malls hit, civilians killed
A daytime drone strike on a shopping mall in Pavlohrad killed five and wounded 67. Earlier in the week, malls in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy were hit, killing two.
The war spills outward
Russia says a Ukrainian seaborne drone attack on Sochi wounded 28. Two people died when Russian drones hit a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova.
Rebuilding under air alarms
The UNDP is repairing last winter's damage and building decentralised plants that are harder to hit. De Croo calls the job almost impossible.
“They know that they are working at a site which is a target”
The bottom line
Ukraine's winter risk is not the cold itself, it is whether repair crews can restore heat, power and water faster than strikes take them out.
