KIEV (Reuters) – All non-essential infrastructure at the Ukrainian port of Odesa was cut off after Russia used Iranian-made drones to attack two energy facilities, cutting power to 1.5 million people.
“The situation in the Odessa region is very difficult,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
“Unfortunately, the damage was so extensive that it will take more than an hour to restore power. Not hours, but unfortunately days.”
Since October, Moscow has launched a series of missile and drone strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Zelensky said Norway had sent $100 million to help restore Ukraine’s energy system.
Odessa regional government spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk said electricity would be restored for the city’s population “within a few days”, but full recovery of the network could take two to three months.
Brachuk said an earlier Facebook post by the region’s administration advising some people to consider evacuation was being investigated by Ukrainian security officials as “elements of a hybrid war” by Russia. .
The post has since been deleted.
“Not a single representative of the authorities in the region called for the evacuation of Odessa and its residents,” Brachuk said.
Odessa had over a million inhabitants before the February 24 invasion. Russia has called the invasion a “special military operation” to “de-naz” its small neighbor.
Kiev says Russia has fired hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones at Ukrainian targets, describing the attack as a war crime because of its devastating impact on civilian lives. Moscow has said its attacks were militarily justified and did not target civilians.
Ukraine’s Attorney General’s Office said two power facilities in the Odessa region were attacked by Shahed-136 drones.
The Ukrainian military said on Facebook that 15 drones were fired against targets in Odessa and southern Mykolaiv, 10 of which were shot down.
Tehran denies supplying drones to Moscow. Kiev and its Western allies say it is a lie.
The UK Defense Ministry said on Saturday it believed Iran’s military support to Russia was likely to increase in the coming months, including the possible deployment of ballistic missiles.
Reported by Max Hunder and David Ljunggren.Edited by Ross Russell, Daniel Wallis and William Mallard
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
