According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmikhal, a “serious accident” caused widespread power outages in Odessa, a city in southern Ukraine whose infrastructure was destroyed by a Russian strike.
“Today there was a technical accident at one of the high-voltage substations in Odessa, which was repeatedly damaged after previous Russian attacks,” Shmichal said. in a Facebook post.
About 500,000 people were cut off from electricity after a “serious accident”, according to local officials. Maksim Marchenko, head of military administration for the Odessa region, said: Official telegram channel “All services and facilities are involved”.
“The damage is complex and very serious, so it is too early to make qualitative predictions about the completion of repairs,” Marchenko said, adding that heat, sewage and water supplies are working normally. Added.
Marchenko said the generators will be delivered to the Odessa region within 24 hours. The government will also transport a US-donated gas turbine power plant to the city.
Given the situation, the Ukrainian government called an emergency meeting on Saturday and decided to set up a round-the-clock government headquarters focused on protecting the country’s energy supply, Shmyhal said. increase.
Schmichal stressed that the current government’s “main task” is to “revive the critical infrastructure and multi-family buildings” in Odessa, adding that the heating of these buildings depends on the electricity supply. He added that there are
The Ukrainian energy minister and the president of Uklenergo, a utility company, have headed to the city to help restore the energy infrastructure, he added.
The prime minister said the station, which provides emergency shelters, will remain open 24 hours a day to help those affected in Odessa.
Remember: This is not the first time Odessa has experienced an emergency power outage. Most recently on January 26th, Emergency shutdown introduced in the city after Russian forces continued their pattern of offensive energy installations.
CNN’s Niamh Kennedy and Denis Lapin contributed to this report.