Ukraine's Odesa suffers major blackouts after Russian attack

Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa and the surrounding region suffered major blackouts on Saturday after a large overnight Russian attack on the power grid across the country.

Max Hunder/Reuters

13 December 2025 at 09:37:06

Firefighters work at the site of a civilian vessel hit during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released December 12, 2025.

Reuters

KYIV - Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa and the surrounding region suffered major blackouts on Saturday after a large overnight Russian attack on the power grid across the country.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had attacked Ukraine with over 450 drones and 30 missiles.

"The brunt of the attack was on our energy system, on the south and Odesa region," he wrote on Telegram, adding that thousands of families in seven regions across Ukraine were left without power.

Moscow has regularly bombarded Ukraine's energy system since its 2022 invasion, causing hours of daily blackouts countrywide.

Ukraine's power grid operator said a "significant number" of households were without power in the southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv, and that the Ukrainian-controlled part of the frontline Kherson region was totally without power.

Max Hunder/Reuters

KYIV - Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa and the surrounding region suffered major blackouts on Saturday after a large overnight Russian attack on the power grid across the country.