Amnesty International has documented the devastating impact of Russia’s systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy system in a new series of testimonials from survivors enduring a freezing winter without heat, electricity or running water.
Based on the testimonies of dozens of people from across the country, the research tells the stories of Ukrainian civilians living with the fallout from massive, incessant Russian attacks that have caused widespread and ongoing disruption to essential services. By the time of the interviews, many of those who spoke to Amnesty International had survived weeks with intermittent or no electricity supply and no heating amid the country’s coldest winter since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
“Russia isn’t just waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, it is subjecting the entire civilian population to a campaign of extreme cruelty. The scale and intensity of its attacks on vital energy infrastructure clearly indicate a strategy to spread despair among Ukraine’s civilian population and break its morale,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“News headlines cannot convey the experience of trying to survive without electricity, running water and heating during a long, freezing winter and amid nightly air raids. Today, while we are telling these stories, Russia’s relentless attacks continue and humanitarian conditions in Ukraine grow increasingly catastrophic.
“Since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has blatantly disregarded international law, including rules that protect civilians in warfare. Those responsible for atrocity crimes should know these crimes have no statute of limitation. People in Ukraine and beyond will relentlessly pursue truth, justice, and reparation and we will support them.”
I warm some water in a cup on a kerosene stove, fill up two bottles, one [goes] under my feet, the other in my hands, so as not to freeze. And we all sleep dressed… Dressed under duvets, all that we have, we put on.
Svitlana, a pensioner from Kyiv
Since last October, Russia has carried out several hundred intense long-distance aerial attacks against Ukraine. In January, these were daily – and often nightly – targeting the entire energy infrastructure. As a result, Ukraine lost more than half of its energy-producing capacity, and emergency power cuts have affected 80% of the country. This happened amid a winter in which temperatures have fallen below -15°C (5° Fahrenheit).
Interviewees, and Amnesty International’s staff members in Ukraine, have spoken of stone-cold apartment blocks, frozen and burst pipework, stalled elevators, discharged mobile phones and disrupted phone networks. As one person said: “At this point, we’re in harsh survival mode”.
Many residents have relied on camping and kerosene stoves to heat bricks and water bottles. Some have resorted to dangerous coping mechanisms, such as setting up camping tents inside their bedrooms and lighting candles within them to fight the cold.
Svitlana, a pensioner from Kyiv, said that during blackouts: “I warm some water in a cup on a kerosene stove, fill up two bottles, one [goes] under my feet, the other in my hands, so as not to freeze. And we all sleep dressed… Dressed under duvets, all that we have, we put on.”
There are many people, including older persons and people with disabilities, who are isolated and confined to their apartments, without any means of communication, whose circumstances are likely much worse than those documented in this research and who may not live through this winter to tell their story.
Amnesty International has documented widespread violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Russia’s full-scale invasion constitutes aggression, which is a crime under international law. Its strategy and tactics, including continued use of indiscriminate weapons and deliberate targeting of civilians, have caused widespread human suffering and seriously impacted Ukraine’s most vulnerable people, including children and older people. The scale and pattern of Russian aerial attacks across the country has clearly indicated that it has been seeking to damage Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
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