The eastern region of Donetsk, Ukraine, was left without electricity on Sunday following fresh Russian strikes targeting energy infrastructure, according to the regional governor, as Moscow intensifies its attacks ahead of winter.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the region's governor, stated that "all power generation and distribution facilities have suffered significant damage" and that emergency teams were working tirelessly to restore power. Local authorities have deployed emergency generators to supply hospitals and evacuation centers.
These strikes are part of a broader campaign by Russia against the Ukrainian power grid, which was already severely damaged during the winter of 2022-2023. The bombings of recent weeks have targeted several regions, including Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, causing massive power outages and severely testing the resilience of the Ukrainian energy system.
Ukraine accuses Moscow of seeking to plunge the population into cold and darkness to break civilian morale, as fighting intensifies around Pokrovsk and Avdiivka in the Donbas region. For its part, Russia maintains that it is only striking "military targets" and accuses Kyiv of using energy infrastructure for logistical purposes.
The Ukrainian government has called on the population to reduce their electricity consumption and has announced the deployment of additional generators, particularly in areas near the front line.
