Zaporizhzhia Oblast loses power for 2nd time this week as Ukraine faces 'most difficult situation with electricity this winter'

Zaporizhzhia Oblast and parts of neighboring Dnipropetrovsk Oblast were left completely without electricity overnight on Jan. 11, as Ukraine grapples with blackouts amid Russian strikes and heavy snowfall.

The city of Kyiv is also facing prolonged power outages due to Russian attacks and freezing temperatures, authorities said.

While the authorities did not specify the reason for the overnight blackout in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the news comes as Moscow escalates its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine's energy grid.

Electricity was fully restored across Zaporizhzhia Oblast by the morning, the regional grid operator Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo said on Jan. 11.

Critical infrastructure facilities began to be powered up within an hour of the blackout, which started at 2:11 a.m. local time.

Power outages led to temporary disruptions in the water supply in several areas of Zaporizhzhia, the governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ivan Fedorov, wrote.

"All hospitals in the city continued operating as normal. They automatically switched to backup generators during the outage," Fedorov said.

"As of 7:00 a.m., power supply to consumers in Zaporizhzhia Oblast — which includes 382,500 households and legal entities — was fully restored," said the head of Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, Andrii Stasevskyi.

According to local authorities, Russia forces launched 821 strikes on 27 settlements in Zaporizhzhia Oblast over the past 24 hours.

At the same time, parts of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, including the city of Dnipro, also experienced power outages, Fedorov added.

Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said electricity transmission was disrupted in Dnipro and across Dnipropetrovsk Oblast due to damage to high-voltage infrastructure caused by Russian attacks.

"Right now, it's the most difficult situation with electricity this winter," DTEK said.

The attacks come as Ukraine faces freezing temperatures, with temperatures dropping below -10°C (14°F).

Residents of Kyiv are also coping with extensive blackouts due to ongoing Russian attacks, frost, and grid overload, DTEK said. The company said it received over 200 reports of localized outages as of 5 p.m. on Jan. 11. Nearly 60 repair crews are at work around the city restoring power to the capital.

Earlier this week, on Jan. 7, Russian strikes on energy facilities left both Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts nearly completely without power.

Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov described the situation on Jan. 7 as a "national emergency."

"From a technical standpoint, the situation in Dnipro is one of the most difficult. This is truly a national emergency," Filatov said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky previously condemned the strikes, saying they had "no military sense" and were aimed at leaving civilians without electricity and heating in winter conditions.

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