Ukrainian family learn to live with blackouts

(1 Nov 2022) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Bilohorodka - 27 October 2022 1. Wide of Yaroslav Vedmid during interview and fireplace in foreground 2. Various of Yaroslav Vedmid during interview 3. Yaroslav Vedmid and Olena Vedmid during interview 4. Cat sleeping 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Yaroslav Vedmid, living with frequent blackouts: "We get used to situations when you are not able to plan everything. What sounds is very uncomfortable for normal people living in a peaceful life. It gets okay when you get used to it, when you are not able to plan for for eight months, anything more than a week ahead."   6. Various of Olena Vedmid preparing dinner 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Yaroslav Vedmid, living with frequent blackouts: "That's probably the worst because we can stay with no, no water for some time. We can stay with having no hot food for some time, but with no telephones on, it's a little bit uncomfortable." 8. Pull from tight of soup to wide of Olena Vedmid preparing dinner 9. Olena Vedmid preparing dinner 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Yaroslav Vedmid and Olena Vedmid, living with frequent blackouts: Yaroslav Vedmid: "When the lights are off," Olena Vedmid: "I just go to sleep. I can go to sleep and read and don't do my work and when the lights come back. I don't procrastinate. I just immediately go to do my work." 11. Bowl of soup on table 12. Various of Olena Vedmid eating soup 13. Wide of table and people eating dinner when blackout happens, picture goes to black and people can be heard laughing in the dark 14. Olena Vedmid preparing luggage for trip 15. Various of Yaroslav Vedmid and Olena Vedmid leaving for holiday STORYLINE: Seated at the dinner table with his wife Olena in a village on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, Yaroslav Vedmid can't count the number of times they've eaten in the dark since Russian attacks triggered the blackouts beginning in early October. Moscow has openly declared its intention to target the country's energy infrastructure and drive the nation into the cold. "That's probably the worst because we can stay with no no water for some time. We can stay with having no hot food for some time, but with no telephones on, it's a little bit uncomfortable." said Vedmid, a 44-year-old business owner in Bilohorodka. The cuts are getting longer — nearly 12 hours of outages a day, he said. So far, Russia has destroyed about 40% of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, affecting 16 regions, according to the Ukrainian government. The latest assaults are heaviest on Mondays, when a massive barrages of Russian cruise missiles and drones strikes have hit Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities, knocking out water and power supplies in apparent retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea fleet and sabotage of the Kerch Bridge. The unpredictable rolling blackouts are increasing as the government scrambles to stabilize the energy grid and repair the system ahead of winter. The cuts add another layer of angst and uncertainty to a population already struggling with the stress of nearly nine months of war. To try to ease people's burdens, energy companies are publishing daily schedules of when neighborhoods won't have power. But it's not consistent, especially as strikes intensify. Recently a power station in the central region was damaged, causing an emergency shutdown and prompting the government to warn citizens of tougher and longer outages. Across the capital, residents are stocking up on heaters, blankets, warm clothing and power banks to charge electronics. Every time the power shuts off, the family loses internet service. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...