‘No one can break us’: Ukrainians turn to candles for dinner as power cuts grip nation

A power cut undeterred guests from their meals at a popular Kyiv restaurant on Friday (October 21)

In a show of Ukrainian defiance, as the country faced nationwide electricity outages due to a wave of Russian air strikes on power facilities.

Most at the restaurant took the outage, which occurred during their meals, calmly and made the best of the situation, enjoying the ‘romantic’ ambiance of the candlelit restaurant.

“As a matter of fact, it toughens us up even more,” said Viktoria, a 20-year-old guest at the “Tin Tin Food Spot” restaurant.

“It is very romantic. People sit with candles which creates a great mood, a nice ambience,” she added.

The restaurant’s manager, 30-year-old Anya, said Russian attempts to break the nation’s morale will not succeed.

“What have the Russians achieved? Nothing. It makes us stronger. Yes, we will have to close tonight, but our guests can finish eating their meals and continue enjoying life. Our spirits are up and will remain up, ” she said.

“We have no other choice, we have to deal with it. Light the candles and go on with our lives, ” Vitaly, a 27-year-old Kyiv resident said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said earlier this week use of electricity should be minimized from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and that a temporary blackout was possible.

Zelenskyy, who says air strikes have damaged 30% of Ukraine’s power stations since Oct. 10, urged the public to limit electricity consumption.

In response to requests by the president and government, towns and cities restricted power supplies and limited electricity use so that energy companies could repair power facilities hit by a wave of Russian air strikes.

Cities including the capital Kyiv and Kharkiv in the northeast announced curbs on the use of electric-powered public transport and began rolling out temporary power cuts.

DTEK, a major electricity supplier in Kyiv, told consumers it would do its best to make sure outages did not last longer than four hours.