Officials in eastern Ukraine blamed Russian attacks on key facilities for the blackout.
Kramatorsk:
Officials in eastern Ukraine on Sunday blamed Russian attacks on key facilities for widespread blackouts in large areas of the country, where Kyiv’s forces are making retaliatory gains.
The blackout, which Ukrainian forces said had captured dozens of towns and villages in eastern Ukraine, affected areas with a pre-war population of millions.
The regional governor of the Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian troops have reported the biggest gains, said Russian forces had “hit critical infrastructure” throughout the region and its main city, also known as Kharkiv.
“Many settlements do not have electricity or water supply. Emergency services are working to control the fires at the affected sites,” Oleg Sinegubov said in a statement on social media.
Dmitry Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, also said that the Russian army was responsible for the blackout in his area.
“Many cities and communities in the Dnipropetrovsk region are without electricity. The Russians affected energy infrastructure. They cannot accept defeat on the battlefield,” he said in a statement online.
Meanwhile, the head of the eastern Sumi region said at least 135 towns and villages were affected by the cuts in electricity and water supplies.
AFP reporters in the Donetsk regional city of Kramatorsk meanwhile confirmed that the cuts were also affecting one of the formerly largest cities still under Ukrainian control.
Its governor also reported cuts across the region, which has been partially controlled by a Moscow-backed separatist since 2014.
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