A residential building in Sumy, Ukraine, was damaged by a Russian missile strike on November 18, 2024, as seen in this view. — Reuters
Residents of the Black Sea port city of Odesa faced a 24-hour power outage on Monday morning, with additional cuts planned nationwide following a massive Russian missile attack over the weekend that damaged critical energy infrastructure. Russia launched its largest missile assault on Ukraine in nearly three months on Sunday, resulting in seven fatalities and further straining an already compromised energy system.
Power distributor DTEK reported on Telegram that the situation was particularly dire in Odesa and its surrounding districts. Unfortunately, it remains technically impossible to restore power to critical infrastructure in the Kyivskyi and Primorskyi districts of the city.
As of Monday morning, approximately 400,000 households had their power restored, while 321,000 consumers continued to experience outages. Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper stated that water supply and heating were gradually being restored across the city, with 445 shelters providing essential services to residents.
Russia has been targeting the Odesa region for months, focusing on port and energy infrastructure. Previous attacks in the autumn of 2022 left the region without electricity for several days and prompted energy usage restrictions during the winter of 2023.
National grid operator Ukrenergo announced temporary power cuts across the country on Sunday between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., stating that workers were repairing the damage as swiftly as possible. The energy ministry reported on Telegram that engineers had restored power to nearly 150,000 consumers following the recent attack.
Authorities warned that most regions would experience blackouts on Monday lasting up to eight hours, including the capital Kyiv. Power cuts of six hours were anticipated in the central Ukrainian region of Cherkasy, with four to six-hour outages expected in Sumy in northern Ukraine.
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