The city of Odessa, in southern Ukraine, is almost entirely without electricity following an attack by “kamikaze drones” launched by Russia overnight, Ukrainian authorities announced on Saturday.
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“
For now, the city is without electricity
,” an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said in a message on his Telegram account.
However, he said that essential infrastructure, including hospitals and maternity wards, had access to power.
"
The situation remains difficult, but is under control
," said Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
According to Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the Odessa region, Russia attacked the city with "
kamikaze drones
" during the night from Friday to Saturday.
"
Due to the strikes, there is no electricity in almost all districts and communities in our region
," he said.
Two drones were shot down by Ukrainian air defense units, Maksym Marchenko added.
Repeated attacks
On Friday, Kyiv pointed out that southern regions of the war-torn country, including Odessa, were suffering the worst power cuts, days after the latest round of Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy grid.
Russia fired dozens of cruise missiles at key infrastructure on Monday, straining the country's already struggling network after repeated attacks.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to keep hitting Ukraine's energy grid despite harsh Western criticism of systematic attacks that have left millions cold and dark.
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