In an update from Ukraine, the UN’s top aid official there, Assistant Secretary-General Matthias Schmale, reports that half the population in Kherson city, about 30,000 or more residents, have been without electricity for several days.

It’s not the only city without power, he told UN News on Wednesday, while on mission to southern Ukraine:

“The big challenge is how do you support people if electricity is cut off for several days, more than a week, let's say, in a row, like is currently the case in Odesa,” he said.

Sustained damage

“The authorities are fairly confident that they can deal with a couple of hours or even a couple of days in a row. but more than a week will be very challenging.”

The Humanitarian Coordinator said that one solution to the energy crisis was to ensure that schools and health centres are provided with generators and enough fuel, “so that people can gather there, if there is a crisis and if needed for several days in a row”.

Mr. Schmale was in the frontline city of Kherson on Wednesday, which lies directly across the Dnipro River from land occupied by Russian invaders in southern Ukraine.

While there, he met civilians at a UN humanitarian hub who had come seeking aid. One woman who is a power plant worker said she was very afraid of being targeted while on the job.

‘Almost everything has been destroyed’

She said there were five houses left on her street where people still live and “almost everything has been destroyed.”

“I don’t even think about it. My home, my dogs, my cats. The neighbours left after their houses were hit. They left their dog for a week. They have been gone for three years now.”

Another woman who Humanitarian Coordinator Schmale met said she was from there Kherson Island district and was living without gas for heat or cooking. Her mother died in hospital 10 days ago due to a landmine accident.

Six months before that, her husband died while using public transportation in Mykolaiv, during a drone attack.

She started crying while remembering all the people she had lost, and fears that it may not be possible for her to return home.

‘I prefer to smile rather than cry’

“Kherson used to be a very industrial city, but not anymore,” said another pensioner. When she was young, she worked on building weather instruments for ships.

Mr. Schmale complimented her on her great sense of humour in the face of adversity. “I prefer to smile rather than cry. I’ve already had a lot of time to cry,” she replied.

“I just want to go back home and die there,” she added poignantly.