Occupied Part of Kherson Region Without Power for Over a Day After Drone Strikes

The Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Kherson region has been left without electricity for more than 24 hours following strikes by Ukrainian drones on energy facilities. The head of the Russian-installed occupation administration, Vladimir Saldo, confirmed the blackout, as did Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Unmanned Systems Forces (USF).

Saldo said the large-scale power outage has been ongoing since the previous night. Several drones struck substations and damaged equipment. He did not give a timeline for restoring power, saying he would report once confirmed information became available.

Part of a wider operation against occupiers' power grid

The strike on the occupiers' energy system was part of a large-scale USF special operation called "Crimean Switch Off." Commander Brovdi reported that between 26 and 28 August, Ukrainian drones hit 21 energy hubs as well as the Luhansk thermal power plant.

Brovdi said residents across all temporarily occupied territories would be left without electricity. According to his figures, since 1 July the USF has struck 315 energy hubs in Crimea and other occupied territories. He said the coming winter would be early and dark in the occupied territories, including Crimea.

The outage followed a broader blackout on the night of 28 August across the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, which occurred after a strike on the Luhansk thermal power plant in the town of Shchastia.