Lviv prepares for school year and potential blackout
Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi (Getty Images)
Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, is planning to resume offline school classes starting from September 1. Works are underway in the event of a potential blackout, work is also underway, but there are some concerns, said Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi.
Preparations for potential blackout
Concerns are being raised about the city's preparedness in case of a potential blackout, particularly in the event of Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure. Mayor Sadovyi expressed his worries and provided reasons for his concerns.
"In terms of power outages, I have certain concerns. We discussed this with the Prime Minister (Denys Shmyhal) and the Minister of Energy (Herman Halushchenko), and we expect his visit to Lviv next week. Last winter, there were significant damages to substations. I'm concerned about how we will navigate through this upcoming fall-winter period," Sadovyi said.
He emphasized that relevant work is ongoing within the city, but overall, the pace of preparation needs to be accelerated.
"We have 6,000 shelters, out of which 1,500 have equipped heating points inside. All organizations and institutions also possess robust diesel generators. Our medical facilities have additional backup. This work has been done. Now we are reinforcing our efforts. However, it's important for the state to take a more active position in terms of energy capacities," Sadovyi added.
Schools
According to the Mayor, just like last year, schools in Lviv plan to commence offline classes.
"Online learning can be temporary and ineffective. Therefore, we will do our best. Schools are properly equipped, there are shelters," Sadovyi said.
He added that the last phases of preparing schools are currently underway, with inspections being conducted. However, there's a lot of work to do.
Ukraine's readiness for fall-winter period
According to assessments by Ukrenergo, it is currently uncertain whether there will be blackouts this winter. This depends on whether Russia launches new missile-drone attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the fall and winter, similar to last year.
Nonetheless, Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate does not rule out the possibility of a repeat scenario. Therefore, the Ministry of Energy advises preparing for the heating season, including retaining or acquiring generators.
Regarding the format of education in Ukrainian schools, decisions will be made on a regional basis based on the security situation, as decided by the government.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the format of education (offline, online, or mixed) will depend on the level of threats.
