A “significant accident” has resulted in widespread power cuts for the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa, where infrastructure has been damaged by Russian attacks, according to Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denis Schimel.
“Today in Odessa there was a technical accident at a high-voltage substation, which was repeatedly damaged after the previous Russian attack,” Schmihal said. in a facebook post,
About 500,000 people were cut off after the “serious accident”, according to a local official. The head of the military administration of the Odessa region, Maxim Marchenko, said about himself official telegram channel that “all services and facilities are included.”
“The damages are complex and very serious, so it is too early to give any qualitative forecasts on the completion of repairs,” Marchenko said, adding that heat, sewage and water supply are operating normally.
According to Marchenko the generators will be delivered to the Odessa region within 24 hours. The government will also transport a gas turbine power plant donated by the United States to the city.
In light of the situation, Ukraine’s government called an emergency meeting on Saturday and decided to create a 24-hour government headquarters focused on protecting the country’s energy supply, according to Shmihal.
Schmihl stressed that the government’s “main task” now is to “revive vital infrastructure and multi-apartment buildings” in Odessa, adding that the heating of these buildings depends on the supply of electricity.
Shmyhal said both the Ukrainian energy minister and the head of the utility company Ukrainergo have gone to the city to help restore energy infrastructure.
The prime minister said stations providing emergency shelter would be open 24 hours a day to assist those affected in Odessa.
Memorization: This is not the first time Odessa has been hit by an emergency power cut. As recently as January 26, emergency shutdowns were introduced After the Russian army continued its pattern of striking energy facilities in the city.
CNN’s Niamh Kennedy and Denise Lapin contributed to this report