Ukrainian Drone Attacks Leave 700,000 Without Power in Russian-Occupied Territories

Overnight, over 700,000 individuals were left without electricity following drone strikes on Russian-occupied regions of southern Ukraine, as reported by officials appointed by Moscow on Tuesday.

The attacks focused on the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas, where the Russian military occupies approximately three-quarters of the land. Moscow declared the annexation of these regions, along with Donetsk and Luhansk, in September 2022.

In the Zaporizhzhia area, the governor appointed by the Kremlin, Yevgeny Balitsky, stated that the entire seized territory experienced a power outage late Monday. By Tuesday morning, he noted that 457 settlements, housing more than 600,000 residents, were still without power.

In the neighboring Kherson region, Russian-installed governor Vladimir Saldo reported that over 104,000 individuals across 150 settlements were similarly impacted by the strikes.

Drone assaults targeting power substations were reported that night in the Russian-controlled areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, leading to significant power outages just as drones continued moving toward Crimea. A photo shared on social media depicted the aftermath.

“Debris from the downed drones damaged a newly built substation in the Henichesk district of Kherson region and another substation in the Melitopol district of Zaporizhzhia,” Saldo noted on Telegram, alongside an image of a burning electrical substation.

Both Saldo and Balitsky mentioned that crucial infrastructure, including water supplies, was being supported by backup generators. Emergency response teams had either put out fires caused by the strikes or were close to doing so, while utility crews began efforts to restore electricity.

Ukrainian officials have not yet responded to these developments.

Additionally, the Russian military oversees the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, with officials stating that the blackout did not impact its operations, as reported by Reuters.