For three days, residents of Enerhodar have been living without electricity and gas, according to the city mayor, Dmytro Orlov. "Yesterday in the evening, some locals used open fires next to their houses to cook food or (boil water)," Orlov said.
Constant shelling prevents utility service workers from restoring electricity and gas supply, he said, warning locals to stay cautious in the areas where there can be landmines.
Enerhodar, the satellite city of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, doesn't have access to a normal supply of drinking water either, according to Orlov. "For some time now, the occupiers haven't allowed (Ukraine) to bring any humanitarian aid to the city," he said.
Enerhodar nowadays resembles a ghost town, according to residents the Kyiv Independent spoke to. Some estimate that roughly half of Enerhodar's 50,000 residents left after Russia captured the city on March 4. The remaining residents live in fear of persecution by Russian soldiers.