Russian Attacks On Electricity In Most Of North Ukraine

Power outages in Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Valery hitraya)

JAKARTA - Russia's new attack on Ukraine's border region, Chernihiv, on Monday cut off electricity in most areas north of the country, including the main city outside the deactivated Chornobyl nuclear power plant, officials said.

The local power company in the region, Chernihiblenergo, said the latest attack targeted an energy facility location, but did not identify the location.

The Mayor of Slavutych, located 45 km (28 miles) west of the Chernobyl power plant in the Kyiv region, Yuri Fomichev said via Telegram, some of the cities experienced power outages in the incident.

Emergency response teams are working on restoring electricity supply, while city water supply systems have been diverted to backup power and uninterrupted room heaters at locations providing essential services.

Meanwhile, the Head of Region Kyiv said the emergency response team was restoring electricity.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the attack report, and there has been no immediate comment from Russia.

Chernihiv, north of the capital Kyiv, has often been the target of attacks, after last weekend there was an attack on an energy target that cut off electricity to 55,000 customers.

Other cities in northern Ukraine also reported power failures.

An official in Izium, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, said parts of his city had been shrouded in darkness.

Russian drone and missile attacks in recent weeks have focused on Ukraine's power grid and gas sector ahead of the winter amid a war that has not subsided for more than 3.5 years.

A series of attacks in Kyiv and other regions of the country earlier this month cut electricity to more than one million people.

This month's Russian attack forced Ukraine to stop activities at several major gas facilities, so Kyiv needed more imports.

In response, Ukraine has also launched its own long-range attacks on Russia's energy targets, including at least 58 attacks on key locations since early August.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday Ukraine may import gas worth about $2 billion from Europe, the United States, and Azerbaijan this winter.