This past weekend, Ukraine suffered more devastating attacks, severely damaging the country's electricity transmission networks, triggering widespread emergency blackouts, with heating and water supply disruptions, just as winter temperatures dipped to freezing.
Energy facilities were knocked out in several major regions including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kharkov, and Dnipropetrovsk. To date, virtually every power plant in Ukraine has been damaged in one way or another by attacks, and repair crews are working around the clock to make repairs. But, there is an urgent need for equipment to undertake lasting rebuilds of plants and transmission lines.
In Southern Ukraine, rescue teams continued searching for more than 45 people believed trapped in the wreckage of a former school and a nearby shelter; a second strike targeted the emergency workers, but fortunately no one was hurt.
We continue to maintain and fuel the diesel generators we installed in communities around the country over the past few years, to heat and light schools, orphanages, senior living centers, and community centers. And thanks to generous donors, we are expanding our solar energy systems that provide more sustainable and less expensive power.
Together we save lives and restore hope.
