Overnight missile-drone barrage leaves large parts of Ukraine without electricity

Russian forces launched another large-scale combined missile and drone strike against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight on January 13, leaving Kyiv and multiple regions without electricity.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, consumers in the capital, as well as in the Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Chernihiv and Zaporizhzhia regions, lost power as a result of the attack. Emergency crews are carrying out repair and restoration work wherever the security situation permits.

Ukraine’s Deputy Energy Minister Oleksandr Viazovchenko stated that severe weather has also caused additional outages, leaving 17 settlements in the Chernihiv and Zakarpattia regions without electricity. Repair teams are currently working to restore the damaged power networks.

At this stage, all regions of Ukraine are operating under hourly rolling blackout schedules, while Kyiv and the Kyiv region are subject to emergency shutoffs. Officials noted that the duration of these emergency outages may increase due to a rapid drop in temperature. Because of the continuing strain on the system, distribution network operators in Kyiv, the Kyiv region, Odesa region and the city of Dnipro have temporarily implemented network restrictions.

Consumers in frontline and border areas continue to face prolonged power cuts, where the situation remains particularly difficult due to ongoing shelling.

By Tamilla Hasanova