Local authorities said the power supply has been severed for the entirety of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region after continual Russian strikes.
The region, once the core of Ukraine’s industrial heartland, remains one of the Kremlin’s key objectives, and Kyiv has warned of a brutal fight to defend it over the winter.
Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, wrote at 11:30 a.m. that the entire region is without power, adding that restoration work is underway.
“The entire Donetsk region is without power,” he wrote. “Due to enemy strikes on infrastructure, emergency power outages have begun in the national power grid.”
Ukraine’s Air Force said it has downed 67 drones across the country overnight, with Russia having launched two Iskander-M missiles and 79 drones of various models.
“One ballistic missile and 12 strike drones hit six locations, and wreckage of shot down drones fell in two locations,” its morning update says without specifying the location of the strikes.
Russia has ramped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid ahead of winter, with infrastructure such as power plants and substations having come under renewed attacks in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, a Russian strike damaged an energy facility in southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, injuring one employee and leaving around 30,000 homes without electricity.
Ukraine has introduced daily rolling blackouts in some regions, notably the northern Chernihiv region, to manage the power shortage.