«We will survive a month in a complete blackout». First Deputy Mayor spoke about Mykolaiv's readiness for possible long-term power and heat cuts

First Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv Vitalii Lukov spoke about the readiness of the city's social sector for possible long-term power and heat outages due to Russian shelling.

In a commentary to the correspondent of NikVesti, the official assured that the city authorities have responded to the needs of institutions as much as possible and continue to work to keep citizens safe.

«Every meeting with the mayor begins and ends with readiness for blackout, for the heating season and possible risks,» assures Vitalii Lukov.

According to him, the city has worked out several stages of action in case of prolonged power and heat outages. At the same time, he admits that it is difficult to predict the situation in advance in a time of war.

«There are several stages and the city has been preparing for each stage of possible blackouts. We are now experiencing periodic, sometimes off-schedule, power outages and still have heat supply. In this scenario, all social institutions are insured and should operate almost normally,» the official says.

Blackout: stage 1

Kindergartens and schools

All kindergartens are provided with alternative power supply, says Vitalii Lukov. The administration of the institution is obliged to connect generators if there is no electricity.

«If the kindergarten is full of children and their parents have not yet picked them up, the managers must switch on the generator. We all need to understand that there is a direct discipline of everyone. And the manager may decide not to switch it on, but to guide the children with flashlights. This is wrong, because when there are a lot of children, it is impossible to ensure normal order and safety of children and parents who come to see the children, and the staff. Therefore, the generator should be switched on,» says Vitalii Lukov.

The official added that parents should not be required to buy additional lighting. All institutions have reported their readiness in advance, and if something is missing, the city is ready to help.

«They (the staff of the institutions) had time, and they reported to their management that they were ready for such challenges. And if one of the managers sees that they don't have it, they should definitely warn them. We will find a way to provide it. It's not a problem,» the official adds.

Schools also have backup power supplies. However, if the blackout lasts for more than two days, education will be suspended, both in classrooms and online.

Separately, at the points of invincibility and institutions, conditions will be set up where children can come to charge their gadgets and be minimally involved in the educational process.

Hospitals

The city council assures that hospitals are the most stable area of the social sphere. All medical facilities are provided with both backup generators and solar panels with storage are installed almost everywhere. That is, everything is calm there.

If the heat goes out — stage 2

In addition to the risk of being left without electricity, there is another risk of being left without heat. If the city is left without heating, Mykolaiv will enter the second phase of action. But the authorities say that the city has separate zones, and heat will be provided by more powerful generators and thermal power plants.

«We will be able to heat small neighbourhoods. We have fuel reserves in some places that we are not talking about. These are hundreds of tonnes. We think that if we don't replenish our stocks, we can keep the social sector and the main life support facilities running for up to a month in the event of a full blockade,» admits Vitalii Lukov.

«The city has cogeneration units at two boiler houses, but they are not enough to cover the entire area,» adds the vice mayor.

«The neighbourhoods I'm talking about will be announced, where boiler houses will be installed, in particular, on Kosmonavtiv Street, where there will be enough heat and you can get warm. But this is when there is no electricity and heat for several days, then we will switch to a backup stage. But not all districts will have them. Unfortunately, it is not possible to do this in all districts,» he assures.

Where can I contact you?

In Mykolaiv, 25 resilience points have already been set up where citizens can go to recharge their phones, get information or simply keep warm. In addition, district administrations can also provide this service.

«We have all the bedridden, for example, under our control. Social protection, with everyone in touch, will visit these people if necessary to take them to hospital if it is cold. We have transport, special teams, a list of these people,» the official said.

As a reminder, on 8 November, the Russian army launched a combined attack on Ukraine. Enemy drones and missiles were aimed at an energy infrastructure facility. Ukraine's Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said that the attack was one of the heaviest in the entire full-scale war.

As it became known, that night Russia re-destroyed the Zmiivka and Trypillia TPPs, which resulted in the loss of generation in Kharkiv and Kyiv regions. As early as 9 November, power outages in Mykolaiv and the region reached up to 12 hours a day.