In the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, power was fully or partially cut on Friday, according to the Moscow-installed administration. The regional governor, Vladimir Saldo, confirmed the outages but did not specify the cause. The blackouts coincide with a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes targeting occupied infrastructure, particularly the neighboring annexed Crimea, where pressure on the energy grid and transport links is increasing.
Russia said its air defense intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones overnight into Friday – one of the largest drone attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion. Impacts were reported in the capital Kyiv, at a major chemical plant in the Tula region, and in Crimea. Russian monitoring channels reported explosions near the Kerch ferry crossing, where residents reported smoke and the smell of burning. The Kerch area is one of Russia’s key military logistics hubs, serving as a transport link between Crimea and the Russian mainland after the Kerch Bridge was repeatedly attacked.
On Thursday, the Moscow-installed governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, announced that rail services would be gradually reduced and children’s summer camps suspended, following a series of attacks that strained local infrastructure. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 in violation of international law; Ukraine and the international community continue to recognize the peninsula as Ukrainian territory.
Source: www.kyivpost.com
