Cold Winter Looms as Russian Strikes Leave Odesa Region in Darkness

An overnight assault by Russian forces resulted in power outages across parts of Ukraine’s southern Odesa region early Saturday, marking yet another blow to the country’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches, according to officials.

While authorities did not specify how many residents were affected by the most recent blackout, the Ukrainian energy company DTEK reported disruptions in sections of the regional capital. DTEK later announced that it had successfully restored power to more than 240,000 households in the area.

«Last night, the enemy targeted both energy and civilian infrastructure in the Odesa region,» stated regional governor Oleh Kiper via Telegram.

«The power restoration teams are working diligently to reconnect the electricity supply,» he mentioned.

Since its invasion in 2022, Moscow has systematically attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter months, leaving millions without power or heating and disrupting water supplies, an action that Kyiv labels as a flagrant war crime.

Russia contends that it does not aim for civilian targets, insisting that Ukraine exploits energy facilities to support its military efforts. Meanwhile, Kyiv claims that the primary focus of the strikes is the civilian population.

The outages on Saturday occurred just a day after a significant Russian assault cut electricity to vast areas of Kyiv and nine other regions.

DTEK indicated early Saturday that it had restored power to more than 800,000 households in the capital following that previous attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Friday’s Russian strikes as unprecedented in their cruelty and urged Western nations to impose stricter sanctions on Moscow.