Russian strikes cause Kyiv’s worst water outage of full-scale war

A series of coordinated Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure on November 3, 2022, inflicted Kyiv's most severe water outage during the ongoing full-scale invasion, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Residents throughout the city were without water for over 24 hours following the strikes, which also knocked out power to the capital.

Outages were reported in nearly all districts, including the central area where some restaurants had to shut down their bathrooms. Mykhailo Yatsuk, director of the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation, warned that the situation could worsen during the winter months. The massive attack on November 3 was the largest on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this year, causing widespread power outages.

Without electricity, Kyiv's large-scale centralized water system cannot pump water to households and businesses. While Kyiv has experienced water outages before, they typically lasted only a few hours after an attack. The recent situation has deteriorated due to Russian strikes in January, which crippled power generation at three of Kyiv's combined heat and power plants.

Without the ability to draw power from these plants, Kyiv now has no alternative option for powering its water supply. Kyivvodakanal, the city-run water company, reported that the Russian attack effectively cut off the entire water supply to the city on November 3. By the following afternoon, the company's workers managed to stabilize the system, although it took several hours to fill the networks, stabilize the pressure, and restore water flow to consumers.

The Kyiv city administration advised residents to use public water pumps during power outages and published a map indicating the locations of water points. Both Yatsuk and a water pump company manager urged residents to stockpile water supplies ahead of winter, as the energy grid will face increased overloads, leading to more severe power outages.