In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, approximately 35% of residential buildings have been reconnected to the electricity supply, and about half have access to heating.

The city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, announced these figures during a telethon on Saturday evening. The situation follows more than 15 Russian strikes on Kharkiv’s energy infrastructure on March 22, leaving the city “almost completely without power,” according to Oleg Synyehubov, head of the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration.

Russian shelling of Kharkiv Oblast destroys emergency medical center

As a result, around 275,000 customers remain without electricity. Terekhov also noted the absence of street lighting and electric transport in the city, and he could not predict when the consequences of the enemy attacks would be fully addressed.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has highlighted the dire circumstances in Kharkiv, stating that in Khrkiv, the energy situation is most difficult and that efforts to restore electricity to household consumers are ongoing at the maximum possible pace.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine further reports that approximately 16,500 individuals visited 149 resilience centers in the Kharkiv Oblast within a single day, 23 March.

Russian forces strike Kharkiv industrial zone, civilian killed in Vovchanski Khutory