Russian drone attacks leave 1.5 million Ukrainians without power

Ukrainian officials say 1.5 million people were without power as well as all non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities on Saturday.

“The situation in the Odesa region is very difficult,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

“Unfortunately, the hits were critical, so it takes more than just time to restore electricity… It doesn’t take hours, but a few days, unfortunately.”

Since October, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone strikes.

Norway was sending $100 million to help restore Ukraine’s energy system, Zelenskiy said.

Serhiy Bratchuk, the spokesperson for Odesa’s regional administration, said electricity for the city’s population will be restored “in the coming days,” while complete restoration of the networks may take two to three months.

Also Read: Russian missile strikes knock out electricity in Kyiv

Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said two power facilities in the Odesa region were hit by Shahed-136 drones.

Ukraine’s armed forces said on Facebook that 15 drones had been launched against targets in the southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv, and 10 had been shot down.

Kyiv says Russia has launched hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones at targets in Ukraine, describing the attacks as war crimes due to their devastating effect on civilian life.

Moscow says its attacks are militarily legitimate and that it does not target civilians. Tehran has denied supplying the drones to Moscow.

Reuters/Zainab Sa’id