Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 19, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 19, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleRussian drone strikes have severely damaged Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leading to widespread power outages amid freezing temperatures.
Jan 19 (Reuters) - Russia launched a barrage of drone strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure overnight on Monday, cutting off power in five regions across the country amid freezing temperatures and high demand, Ukrainian officials said.
The Ukrainian air force said that Russian troops had launched 145 drones. Air defence units shot down 126 of them, it said.
"As of this morning, consumers in Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions are without power," the energy ministry said in a statement. "Emergency repair work is underway if the security situation allows."
In the southern Odesa region, energy and gas infrastructure was damaged, the regional governor said, adding that one person was hurt in the attack.
DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said its energy facility in Odesa was "substantially" damaged, knocking out power for 30,800 households.
A local power grid company in northern Chernihiv region said that five important energy facilities were damaged, leaving tens of thousands of consumers without power.
Russia also hit Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv with missiles on Monday morning, significantly damaging a critical infrastructure facility, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
Moscow has stepped up a winter campaign of strikes on the Ukrainian energy system, including generation, electricity transmission and gas production facilities, amid freezing temperatures that complicate repair works.
The attacks have caused long blackouts.
"Being without electricity for more than 16 hours is awful," Serhii Kovalenko, CEO of energy distribution company Yasno, said on Facebook late on Sunday. "And it's not because of the energy companies, but because of cynical attacks by the enemy, who is trying to create a humanitarian disaster."
Ukraine declared an energy emergency last week as its grid crumbled due to accumulated wartime damage and a new targeted wave of Russian bombardments.
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday the government would implement projects to improve electricity transmission from the western part of the country to its power-hungry east.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk, additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Energy infrastructure refers to the physical systems and structures that generate, transmit, and distribute energy, including power plants, transmission lines, and substations.
Drone strikes are military attacks carried out using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), often targeting specific locations to minimize collateral damage.
A power outage is a temporary loss of electrical power in a specific area, which can be caused by various factors including severe weather, equipment failure, or deliberate attacks.
Emergency repair work involves urgent actions taken to restore essential services, such as electricity, after a disruption caused by damage or failure in infrastructure.
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