Ukraine brings back power outages starting December 18 – Ukrenergo

Source: Ukrenergo

Ukraine’s power grid operator Ukrenergo said it will have to impose rolling blackouts on Wednesday, which will impact all the regions of Ukraine.

The rotating power outages will last since 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM for both households and businesses.

The restrictions are due to damage sustained by energy infrastructure during three Russian missile and drone attacks in November and December. Repairs are ongoing, and energy workers are making every effort to restore the damaged facilities as quickly as possible.

The timing and extent of restrictions may change throughout the day. Updated information about outage schedules in specific regions is available on the websites or official social media accounts of regional electricity distribution companies (oblenergo).

Ukrenergo emphasized that it determines the number of outage rotations required, while the specific schedules for each rotation are managed by regional electricity providers.

Ukrainians are once again urged to conserve electricity whenever possible.

In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.

During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.

Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.

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