Russian Strikes Leave Ukrainian City Without Power

Russian attacks have plunged the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv into widespread blackouts, cutting off phone networks and halting essential services, with repair efforts stalled by ongoing drone strikes on Tuesday.

Ukraine has imposed electricity consumption restrictions nationwide in recent weeks following systematic Russian attacks on energy infrastructure and the rail network.

The Chernigiv region, briefly occupied during Russia’s February 2022 invasion, has been subjected to particularly heavy bombardment in recent weeks. Its main city, also called Chernigiv, had an estimated pre-war population of 283,000 people.

“Critical infrastructure like hospitals have had to turn to autonomous power supply,” a spokesman for the regional authorities told AFP, adding that the severe outages began late on Monday.
“There are also water problems for those living on the upper floors. The whole city and the surrounding area in the north is blacked out,” said Andriy Podorvan, representative of the Chernigiv regional military administration.

The Ukrainian energy ministry said repair crews were unable to begin restoring damaged facilities due to “relentless” Russian drone attacks.

“The Russians deliberately launch unmanned aerial vehicles that continuously fly over damaged facilities, making it impossible to safely carry out repairs and intentionally prolonging the humanitarian crisis,” the ministry stated.

Local residents described the hardships caused by the outages. Oleg, a veterinary worker in Chernigiv, told AFP: “There is no heat, and the animals are cold. There is no water to give them to drink. There is nothing to clean the premises with. There is no way to clean our instruments either.”

The Kremlin maintains its forces only target military facilities, attributing continued civilian suffering to Kyiv’s refusal to accept Russian terms to end the war.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for top Russian military officials for the war crime of causing excessive harm to civilians by targeting Ukrainian energy sites. The ICC also issued a separate warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over allegations of abducting Ukrainian children from areas occupied by Moscow.

Key Facts

The sustained attacks highlight the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the difficulties in restoring basic services under continued aerial assault.