Fog-shrouded Kyiv recovers after Russia strikes, power restored to 6 million - Reuters

KYIV, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Basic services were being restored successful Ukraine's superior Kyiv connected Saturday aft the latest question of Russian aerial strikes connected captious infrastructure, arsenic residents navigated a metropolis gripped by fog and girded for a vacation play marked by uncertainty.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a 4th of Kyiv remained without heating but that the metro strategy was backmost successful work and each residents had been reconnected to h2o proviso by aboriginal morning.

Only astir one-third of the metropolis remained without electricity, helium said, but exigency outages would inactive beryllium implemented to prevention power. "Because the shortage of energy is significant," helium wrote connected the Telegram messaging app.

Ukrainian officials said Russia fired much than 70 missiles connected Friday successful 1 of its heaviest barrages since the Kremlin's Feb. 24 invasion, forcing exigency blackouts nationwide.

Ukraine has managed to reconstruct powerfulness to astir 6 cardinal radical successful the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said successful a video address.

"Repair enactment continues without a interruption aft yesterday's violent attack. ... Of course, determination is inactive a batch of enactment to bash to stabilize the system," helium said.

"There are problems with the vigor supplies. There are large problems with h2o supplies," Zelenskiy added, saying Kyiv arsenic good arsenic Vinnytsia and Lviv further to the westbound were experiencing the astir difficulty.

Earlier this month, Kyiv Mayor Klitschko had warned of an "apocalypse" script for the superior if Russian aerial strikes connected infrastructure continued, though helium besides said determination was nary request yet for radical to evacuate.

"We are warring and doing everything we tin to marque definite that this does not happen," helium told Reuters connected Dec. 7.

In a gloomy wintertime haze connected Saturday, officials reopened a fashionable pedestrian span that had been damaged during an earlier aerial onslaught and were mounting up a smaller-than-usual Christmas histrion successful a cardinal square.

The immense abstraction successful beforehand of the centuries-old St. Sophia Cathedral is traditionally anchored by a hulking evergreen astatine Christmas. But officials this twelvemonth opted for a 12-metre (40-foot) artificial histrion festooned with energy-saving lights powered by a generator.

Orthodox Christians marque up the bulk of Ukraine's 43 cardinal people.

Klitschko said the histrion was funded by donors and businesses, and that nary nationalist celebrations would instrumentality place.

"I uncertainty this volition beryllium a existent holiday," said Kyiv nonmigratory Iryna Soloychuk, who arrived with her girl to spot the histrion conscionable hours aft different circular of air-raid alerts wailed crossed the country.

"But we should recognize that we're each together, that we should assistance 1 another."

Additional reporting by Yurii Khomenko and David Ljunggren Editing by Frances Kerry

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