Russian attacks cut power, heating supply for tens of thousands in southern Ukraine

Tens of thousands of people were left without power and heating in southern Ukraine after Russian night-time attacks on the frontline city of Kherson and Ukraine’s largest seaport, Odesa, local authorities and the energy company said on Thursday.

As winter approaches, Russia has sharply increased the number and intensity of attacks on Ukraine’s energy and utilities sector, plunging entire cities and regions into darkness.

Ukrainian energy company DTEK said on Thursday that Russia attacked its energy facility in the southern Odesa region overnight, leaving 51,800 households without power.

The regional governor of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson said that operations at a heat and power plant in the city were suspended after a series of Russian attacks, leaving 40,500 customers without heat.

“This entirely civilian facility, which provided heat to the city’s residents, has suffered serious damage: the station’s premises and equipment have been damaged,” governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on the Telegram messenger.

“Once again, terrorists are waging war against the civilian population,” he added.

Kherson is a frontline city that is subjected to Russian missile, drone and artillery attacks on an almost daily basis.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said Russian attacks had also left without power about 60,000 residents of the frontline Donetsk region, but gave no more details.