- Title: Crews race to fix Odesa's power grid as Russia batters Ukrainian energy system
- Date: 18th February 2026
- Summary: ODESA, UKRAINE (FEBRUARY 18, 2026) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SUBSTATION DAMAGED IN RECENT RUSSIAN STRIKE PUDDLE EXCAVATOR SHOVELLING RUBBLE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) HEAD OF DTEK ODESA POWER GRID, DMYTRO HRYHORYEV, SAYING: "We understand what the enemy is attempting to do: they want to make the lives of Ukrainians insufferable so that we give up. They cannot beat us on the battle
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Russia attack drones electricity energy missiles negotiations south Ukraine talks war in Ukraine
- Location: ODESA, UKRAINE
- City: ODESA, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001650318022026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Ukrainian repair crews in Odesa worked in cold, wet conditions on Wednesday (February 18) to repair a substation damaged in a recent Russian strike.
A day earlier, Russian strikes badly damaged the city's power grid. Governor Oleh Kiper said that because of the attack, nearly 99,000 consumers remained without electricity on Wednesday.
At the shattered site, excavators cleared debris as electricians picked their way through broken equipment.
Dmytro Hryhoryev, head of the DTEK Odesa power grid, said Russia was targeting infrastructure to make "the lives of Ukrainians insufferable" after failing to defeat Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.
Hryhoryev added that Russian attacks damaged 31 substations in Odesa last year alone, forcing the operator to reroute consumers and repurpose damaged substations as partially functioning distribution points.
(Production: Iryna Nazarchuk, Felix Hoske) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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