On January 31, Ukraine’s and Moldova’s power grids experienced mass outages, including in their respective capitals, as reported by numerous press outlets. Residents have had to deal with heating, energy, and water shortages amid freezing temperatures going below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
On the morning of Jan. 31, “a technical malfunction occurred, causing a simultaneous shutdown of the 400 kilovolt line between the power grids of Romania and Moldova and the 750 kilovolt line between western and central Ukraine,” [Ukraine Minister of Energy] Denys Shmyhal posted on Telegram, reported Euro News.
Although Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other’s infrastructure over the past months, they suspended all such attacks on January 30 for humanitarian reasons, as “General Winter” seized the region, and as had been requested by Pres. Trump, reported Reuters.
Acting Ukrainian President Zelensky confirmed that, “In all our regions, there were indeed no strikes on energy facilities from Thursday night to Friday.” He also noted there was no formal truce between the two countries, but that “Ukraine is ready in reciprocal terms to refrain from strikes.”
