More than 550 settlements are still without electricity in Ukraine amid a cold spell following snowstorms and heavy snowfall over the weekend, despite the fact that technicians working nonstop managed to reconnect several hundred villages and cities, the state-owned Ukrenerho power-grid operator said on November 28.
"Fewer settlements remain disconnected from the power grid -- 559 as of the morning of November 28. Energy workers have been working all night and restored several hundred settlements," Ukrenerho Chairman Volodymyr Kudrytskiy told RFE/RL.
Kudrytskiy said the worst-affected by the bad weather was southern Ukraine, in particular the Odesa, Mykolaiyv, and Kherson regions, where most communities still disconnected are located.
Kyiv and its surroundings, which besides having to deal with the effects of bad weather were also targeted by Russia's largest wave of drone strikes just days before, has managed to repair all three high-voltage power lines that were damaged by the Russians, Kudrytskiy said.
Earlier on November 28, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the spell of cold weather and snow storms that swept through Ukraine and parts of Southeastern Europe had killed 10 Ukrainians in the Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolayiv regions, and the capital, Kyiv.
A further 23 people, including two children, were injured in incidents caused by the bad weather, Klymenko said. The highest number of deaths, five, and injuries, 15, was recorded in the Odesa region.
The ministry said 411 settlements in 11 Ukrainian regions remained cut off due to blocked roads as of early on November 28.
In occupied Crimea, winds of more than 100 kilometers per hour were forecast for November 28, Russian state news agency TASS said, adding that similarly strong gusts were expected in southern Russia and parts of northwestern Russia.
At least four people lost their lives because of inclement weather in southern Russia and occupied Crimea, regional authorities said.
