Russian strikes have triggered severe power cuts across Kyiv and Dnipro, with extended blackouts now threatening Odesa, Kharkiv, and frontline regions, an energy expert said.
Volodymyr Omelchenko, the director of energy programmes at the Razumkov Centre, a Kyiv-based public policy research organisation, told Ukrainian news agency UNIAN that prolonged electricity rationing is spreading well beyond the capital.
In Dnipro, a major industrial city in south-central Ukraine, Russian bombardment completely destroyed the Prydniprovska thermal power plant. Omelchenko reported that the facility has ceased generating electricity entirely, while the electrical substations serving the complex have also been destroyed.
Omelchenko identified the Odesa region as the prime candidate for large-scale power cuts, followed by Kharkiv and its surrounding region, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Frontline border territories in Sumy Oblast and Chernihiv Oblast face similar threats, though western regions are not currently exposed to the same level of risk, he noted.
Winter blackout warnings
Omelchenko stressed that making precise forecasts about the duration of blackouts over the coming days remains impossible due to persistent enemy shelling. He explained that projections depend strictly on the military situation, determined both by Russian strike plans and the ability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to intercept and shoot down incoming aerial targets.
The latest warnings follow severe emergency measures on 31 October, when scheduled power cuts in Kyiv reached between 16 and 18 hours in a single day. Residents across several districts of the capital were also left without hot water supplies, while telecommunications networks experienced widespread signal failures.
Thermal power stations and high-voltage transmission substations have been central targets of Russian aerial bombardments throughout the conflict, reducing domestic generation capacity and forcing regional authorities to restrict daily power consumption.
Energy expert Yuriy Korolchuk warned that blackouts across Ukraine will last for at least 12 hours a day once sub-zero winter temperatures arrive. In the worst-case scenario, power restrictions could extend up to 20 hours a day for several affected regions as freezing weather drives up heating demand.
