A massive Russian pre-dawn overnight strike on Odesa on Friday, Dec. 19, knocked out electricity, heating, and water supplies for tens of thousands of residents, damaged energy and railway infrastructure, and injured at least two people, Ukrainian officials said.
The attack left 74,500 electricity subscribers across the Odesa region without power, according to Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Ukraine’s Restoration.
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Odesa city was hit hardest, with about 65,000 households plunged into darkness. Nearly 9,000 more customers remained without electricity in the town of Artsyz due to damage from earlier strikes.
One person was wounded in Odesa during the overnight attack, Oleg Kiper, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, said.
Moscow has stepped up attacks on civilian energy and transport infrastructure as winter deepens, seeking to disrupt daily life and increase pressure on the population.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported a large fire at an energy infrastructure facility struck by Russian forces. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, while emergency crews continued round-the-clock repairs.
Critical infrastructure is operating on backup power, with key facilities supplied by generators, regional authorities said.
City authorities delivered water to neighborhoods experiencing supply disruptions. “Points of Invincibility” remained open around the clock, offering heat, electricity and phone charging for residents.
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The strike also hit the railway infrastructure. Kiper said Russian forces struck the territory of the Odesa-Eastern railway station, damaging an electrical centralization post and station buildings. A railway employee was wounded and remains under medical supervision.
The latest attack comes as Odesa continues to recover from one of the most intense Russian aerial assaults of the war earlier this month.
During the night and morning of Dec. 13, Russian forces launched a multi-wave assault on the Odesa region, striking with drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.
Authorities said the attacks targeted around 300 aerial objects, including roughly 130 Shahed drones. Prosecutors reported that at least three people were injured.
The strikes left large parts of Odesa temporarily without electricity, heating, and water. Public electric transport was suspended after traction substations lost power, with buses stepping in to replace trams and trolleybuses.
The city of Artsyz in Odesa region was left completely without power for several days. Mayor Serhii Parpulanskyi warned that outages could last up to a week, though electricity was later restored to most settlements.
By Dec. 18, frustrated residents in some Odesa neighborhoods blocked streets to protest prolonged blackouts following repeated Russian attacks on the region’s energy system.
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