Ukrainians brace for blackouts and hard winter after Russian strikes hit countries energy network

Liubov Palii was sitting at her computer when the lights went off in her onebedroom apartment after Russian strikes pummeled Ukraine s energy network. She started to play with her fourmonthold baby boy, Vova, by the light of her mobile phone. (When blackout happens), we just play together in the bed, lay together, I light the candles and turn flashlight on my phone, she said. I couldn t take a shower or bathe my baby, because I cant do this in the darkness with a Just a small wash. Families like Palii are bracing for a harsh winter after Russian missiles and drones rained on cities across Ukraine this week, hitting power plants and electricity stations and damaging around 30 of the country s energy infrastructure. While she was pregnant, Palii s family had already fled the advancing Russian occupation in the southern Kherson region and moved to Kyiv in April. Through tears, she explained that while no part of the country was safe, it had bee