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UKRAINIAN officials were racing on Thursday to restore electricity after Russian attacks plunged two southeastern regions into near-total darkness overnight, forcing critical infrastructure to operate on emergency reserves.
Reuters cited on Thursday that the strikes, which severely disrupted power supplies in the industrial heartland of southeastern Ukraine, come as Moscow intensifies its campaign against the country’s energy system.
The escalation coincides with Ukrainian forces resisting renewed Russian advances on the battlefield and Kyiv facing mounting pressure from the United States to pursue a negotiated settlement.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said repair works were continuing in the Dnipropetrovsk region to restore heat and water supplies to more than one million consumers.
The Energy Ministry reported that nearly 800,000 customers in the region remained without electricity early on Thursday.
Power supply had, however, been fully restored in the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, according to the ministry. Zaporizhzhia governor Ivan Fedorov said the blackout marked an unprecedented event for the region in recent years.
“A difficult night for the region. But ‘light’ always wins,” Fedorov wrote on Telegram on Thursday.
The Energy Ministry also said that eight mines across Dnipropetrovsk had been affected by power outages, although all workers were safely evacuated.
Water supplies to the strategically important city of Pavlohrad and surrounding areas could take up to a day to be fully restored, said Mykola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council.
The disruptions come as Ukraine prepares for an impending cold snap. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko warned late on Tuesday that the drop in temperatures was likely to exacerbate disruptions to electricity and heating services.
The Energy Ministry added on Wednesday that adverse weather conditions had already caused power cuts in some settlements across at least four regions, compounding the strain on Ukraine’s battered energy infrastructure. - January 8, 2025