Extreme cold leaves towns in Ukraine in the dark

Ukraine's power grid operator said on Tuesday severe winter weather left more than 1,000 towns and villages without electricity in nine regions and urged residents to conserve power as the energy system has been weakened under the conflict.

Electricity consumption was at the highest levels this week as temperatures fell to about — 15 C in many parts of the country, grid operator Ukrenergo said.

"The consumption level continues to grow due to the considerable drop in temperature across the country," the company said, adding that electricity consumption in the morning was already 5.8 percent higher than the day before.