Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy sector continued overnight as Kyiv scrambles to accelerate work on rerouting electricity supplies from its western nuclear plants to hard-hit areas in the east.
This winter, Russia has made no secret that its strategy is to target Ukraine's already-battered electricity grid and power plant facilities, along with municipal heating plants, which supply heat and hot water to many, if not most, buildings in Kyiv and other Ukrainian towns and cities.
Russian strikes hit the Odesa region early on January 19, damaging energy and gas infrastructure, with at least one person being injured, regional authorities reported.
The head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleh Kiper, added that a drone struck a multistory residential building in Odesa.
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Residential Buildings, Infrastructure Hit In Russian Overnight Attack On Odesa
"The blast wave was so strong. I live on the 12th floor, and the windows were blown out so it felt like it was raining glass," Volodymyr, an Odesa resident who asked for his last name to be withheld, told RFE/RL.
DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said a power facility in the southern city of Odesa was "substantially" damaged in the attack, leaving almost 40,000 households without electricity.
In Ukraine's second-biggest city of Kharkiv, Russia attacked a critical infrastructure facility with four missiles, causing significant damage, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on January 19.
In Kyiv, utility workers continue working to restore heat to buildings that were left without heating after the January 9 attack on the capital.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the situation remains challenging as severe frost persists, with temperatures reaching minus 20 degrees Celsius. Emergency power outages continue, and the Ukrainian capital is operating under a state of emergency, he added.
SEE ALSO: Freezing Temperatures, Fraying Nerves: Russian Attacks Weaponize Winter In UkraineUkrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal stated on January 19 that Ukraine will work on improving electricity transmission from the western part of the country to its power-hungry eastern regions amid the ongoing Russian attack on its energy infrastructure.
"This involves both repairs and network expansion. The tasks set will reduce the duration of power cuts in areas where the situation is currently most difficult," Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.
Andriy Herus, head of Ukrainian parliament's Energy, Housing, and Communal Services Committee, said that the coming weeks will be tough for all unless the deep freeze breaks and longer days and clear skies help generate more solar power.
"The next 30 days will be difficult for us," Herus told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on January 19. "I sometimes hear that 'from January 15 it will get better' or 'next week it will get better' -- but then at the end of such statements they add in fine print, 'provided that there are no new attacks.' But there's a high probability that there will be new attacks."
Ukraine's three operational nuclear power plants, which provide most of the country’s electricity, are located in the west, while eastern Ukraine, formerly reliant on thermal power plants, has seen those facilities almost completely destroyed.
SEE ALSO: Mapping Ukraine's Major Power PlantsThe US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has warned that Russian forces are reportedly preparing to conduct long-range strikes against substations powering Ukraine's nuclear power plants.
"If the Russians seriously wanted to end the war, they'd focus on diplomacy -- not on missile strikes, blackouts, and even attempts to damage our nuclear power plants," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
"We have information about the sites Russia reconnoitered in preparation for strikes. Everything clearly shows that diplomacy is not a priority for Russia," Zelenskyy warned.
Russia's Defense Ministry says it's targeting energy infrastructure it claims is used by Ukraine's military.
SEE ALSO: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Now Longer Than Soviet War Against HitlerData shows Russian forces intensified strikes on Ukraine's energy and gas infrastructure at the beginning of fall 2025, disrupting supplies during the heating season.
With reporting from Ukrainian Service and Reuters