停電に耐えるキーウ市民、暗闇にともる決意の炎

【キーウＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナの首都キーウ北部にある集合住宅で午後６時過ぎに計画停電が始まると、住人のイレン・ロズドブトコさん（６０）と夫のイーホル・ジュクさん（７０）はそれぞれ、用意していたろうそくとヘッドライトをともし、静かな夜を過ごし始めた。（写真は、キーウの自宅で、計画停電中にヘッドライトを装着したイーホル・ジュクさん）
　ウクライナに侵攻したロシア軍はこの１か月間、エネルギー施設を集中攻撃し、電力網に深刻な打撃を与えた。国営電力会社ウクルエネルゴは、電力網への負担を軽減し、全面的な停電を避けるため、キーウなどで計画停電を実施している。
　夫妻が住む地域ではこの日、午前０時～４時、午前９時～午後１時、午後６時～１０時の計３回、各４時間の計画停電があった。
　■「苦悶と無力」
　作家で芸術家のロズドブトコさんはサラダを作りながら、「私は薄暗がりが好き。静かで雰囲気があって、考えを誰にも邪魔されない」と語る。必要なら、ウクライナの伝統料理ボルシチを「目をつぶってでも」作れるという。
　ガスコンロはまだ使用でき、蛇口をひねれば勢いは弱いが水が出る。冬が近づく中、暖房もまだ使えることに感謝しているという。
　室内の照明には、懐中電灯や昔買った装飾用のろうそくを使っている。浴室にはキャンプ用のランタンを置いた。
　科学者のジュクさんにとって、民間施設への攻撃は「ロシア軍の苦悶（くもん）と無力」を示すものだという。ロシア軍はウクライナ軍の反攻を受け苦戦を強いられており、９月には同国北東部で数千平方キロの占領地を失った。
　ジュクさんは「ロシア軍はウクライナ軍を倒せないと分かると、その後ろにいる民間人と戦い始める」と語る。
　■冬を耐える決意
　ビタリ・クリチコ市長は、ロシアが攻撃を続けた場合、冬を電気や水道、暖房なしで過ごすという「最悪のシナリオ」も想定。住民が集まって暖を取れる場所を市内１０００か所以上に設置する予定だ。
　ヘッドライトを頭につけたジュクさんは、これからやってくる厳しい日々を耐える覚悟だ。「今年の冬はもう少し、あるいはかなり大変になるかもしれない。でも、まだ最悪の状況にはなっていない」
　ロズドブトコさんは、部屋の一角に飾ってある手紙を指さすと、感極まった様子を見せた。手紙はフランス南部マルセイユに避難している孫たちからのもので、こんなメッセージが書かれていた。
　「おじいちゃん、おばあちゃん、こんにちは。ウクライナの生活はうまくいっていますか？ そうじゃないのなら、フランスに来てね。私たちはおじいちゃんとおばあちゃんをとても愛していて、応援しています」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/11/11-14:51）

When their apartment block in northern Kyiv goes dark just after 6:00 pm as scheduled, residents Iren Rozdobudko and Igor Zhuk are ready.
She lights a candle, he switches on his head torch, and they settle in for a quiet evening.
For much of the past month, Russian strikes have heavily targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, severely damaging the electricity network.
To ease the strain on the grid and avoid a total blackout, national energy operator Ukrenergo has imposed controlled power cuts in the capital and elsewhere across the war-torn country.
Residents can consult the official schedule for rolling blackouts to pinpoint exactly when their lights will go out.
The buildings in the neighbourhood where Rozdobudko and her husband Zhuk live experienced three four-hour power cuts on Saturday -- from midnight to 4:00 am, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and again from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
I like the semi-darkness, when it's quiet, moody and no one interrupts my thoughts, says Rozdobudko, a 60-year-old writer and artist, as she prepares a vegetable salad.
- 'Agony and powerlessness' -
If she had to, Rozdobudko says she could cook borscht, a traditional beetroot soup, with my eyes closed.
The gas stove in the flat still works and water comes out of the tap even if the pressure is weak, she says.
There is cabbage in the fridge, carrots and other necessary items, she adds.
With winter fast approaching, the writer is grateful that the heating still works too.
Flashlights as well as candles, bought long ago for decorative purposes, keep their flat illuminated.
In the bathroom, they have put up a camping lantern.
Outside, the neighbourhood is plunged into darkness, the odd faint light emerging from the windows of some nearby apartments.
The pitch-black pavements are lit up here and there by residents using torches or mobile phone lights to guide them home.
But so widespread is the damage to Ukraine's electricity infrastructure that Ukrenergo said at the weekend the controlled blackouts were not enough to relieve the grid and additional power cuts had to be imposed.
On Sunday, even the streets near the presidential office in Kyiv, which had so far escaped the power outages, briefly went dark, AFP reporters saw.
Parts of the capital also experienced interruptions to water supplies last week, following renewed Russian missile attacks.
Sitting by candlelight, Rozdobudko passes the time sewing doll's clothes. I'd never be doing this if the lights were on, she admits.
The recent salvo of Russian strikes on the capital, after a months-long lull, is a stark reminder of the war raging on the frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine, where deadly bombardments are a daily occurrence.
For Zhuk, a scientist and singer, the bombing of civilian infrastructure shows the agony and powerlessness of the Russian army. Moscow's troops are struggling to resist a Ukrainian counter-offensive that saw Kyiv's forces retake thousands of square kilometres in the northeast in September.
- Bracing for winter -
When they see that they can't defeat the (Ukrainian) army, they start fighting with those at the back -- the civilians, he says.
In the heart of Kyiv, the city's iconic Independence Square, known as the Maidan, regularly goes dark.
Without the streetlights on, only the headlights from passing cars cut through the blackness after nightfall. Restaurants have adapted too, offering candlelit dinners.
Almost 4.5 million Ukrainians were temporarily without electricity nationwide on Thursday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, accusing Russia of energy terror.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has warned of a worst-case scenario this winter with no electricity, water or heating if Russia kept up its attacks.
He said the city was preparing more than a thousand heating points where residents could keep warm as the weather turns ever colder.
We have bought electric generators, stored water and everything necessary for these heating points to accommodate people, he said.
Zhuk, the torchlight on his forehead burning brightly, says he has resigned himself to a challenging time ahead.
It will probably be a bit more difficult this winter, or maybe even a lot more difficult. But we're not in the worst situation yet.
In a corner of the flat, Rozdobudko visibly moved, points to a letter on display. It was written by her grandchildren, who have found refuge in the French city of Marseille.
Hello grandpa and grandma. Is life going well in Ukraine? the letter reads.
If not, come and join us in France. We love you very much and we support you.