Ukraine's Odesa forced onto backup power after overnight Russian attack: Officials
LONDON--Life support facilities and critical infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa were forced onto backup power by overnight Russian strikes on energy targets, Ukrainian officials said early Sunday.
"The enemy continues to deliberately strike civilian infrastructure in the southern part of the Odesa region," Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, wrote on Telegram.
"Despite active air defense efforts, last night strike drones again damaged energy facilities, including a solar power plant," Kiper added. "Fires that broke out were promptly extinguished by the State Emergency Service units. Fortunately, there were no casualties."
"Resilience points have been deployed in the affected area," Kiper wrote. "Life-support facilities and critical infrastructure have been switched to backup power."
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry confirmed Kiper's report, saying in social media posts that there was "a power outage" in Odesa as a result of Russian strikes.
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched one ballistic missile and 176 drones into the country overnight, of which 139 drones were shot down or suppressed. Thirty-seven drones impacted across 14 locations, the air force said.
Moscow is intensifying its strikes against critical infrastructure -- particularly energy targets -- all across Ukraine coinciding with the onset of wintry weather, according to Ukrainian officials. Russian forces have targeted energy infrastructure throughout Moscow's full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on Sunday that Kyiv is working to enhance its air defenses in cooperation with Western partners. "We have prepared new strong agreements with Europe to significantly strengthen our air defense, our resilience and our diplomacy," he wrote on Telegram.
The president also said his government is bolstering its energy grid and securing more natural gas supplies in response to Russian attacks.
"We already have agreements in place for financing gas imports -- and we will cover nearly 2 billion euros needed for gas imports to compensate for the losses in Ukrainian production caused by Russian strikes," Zelenskky said in a statement posted to the presidential office website.
Zelenskyy announced a new deal for gas imports from Greece and said Kyiv is working with European Union, American, Norwegian, Polish and Azerbaijani partners to secure more supplies and arrange financing for additional imports.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy said in a statement that the government's "winter support elements" include the fixing of electricity and gas prices for households, financing of gas imports and the building of equipment reserves for repairs after Russian strikes.
