Last night, late on 19 February, Russian forces launched mass drone strikes on Odesa for the second night in a row, causing fires, damaging buildings, and leaving nearly 90,000 residents without electricity, local authorities reported. Emergency crews worked around the clock to restore power and heating to affected areas.

Shortly before midnight on 19 February, Russian forces launched another wave of explosive drones on Odesa in southern Ukraine, striking residential and public infrastructure. According to Odesa Oblast Head Oleh Kiper, fires broke out at a restaurant and a warehouse following the attacks. An administrative building, a car wash, and a private home sustained damage.

A 55-year-old man was hospitalized with moderate injuries as a result of the strikes. Additionally, one district of the city experienced widespread power outages, affecting approximately 5,000 residents.

Widespread power outages across Odesa, heating and utilities disrupted

Kiper confirmed that as a result of two consecutive days of Russian drone attacks, a total of 89,500 residents in Odesa Oblast were left without electricity. Utility teams have been working continuously to repair the damage, restoring power to 40,000 households overnight. However, 49,000 residents remained without electricity as of 20 February morning, according to Kiper.

He assured that critical infrastructure, including hospitals and emergency services, had been reconnected.

Shortly after last night’s attack, Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov reported that the attacks also damaged the city’s heating infrastructure, resulting in service interruptions for several neighborhoods. Emergency teams responded to the affected sites, while the city administration deployed additional repair crews.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that firefighting teams were deployed throughout Odesa to contain blazes caused by the strikes. A total of 22 emergency vehicles and 82 personnel were mobilized to respond to the destruction.

On the afternoon of 20 February, authorities confirmed that heating had been partially restored, with two key boiler stations back online. Schools and kindergartens were prioritized for service restoration to ensure students could return to classrooms.

Mayor Trukhanov confirmed that power had been restored to two major boiler stations serving nearly 200,000 residents. Heating was gradually being restored to affected neighborhoods, with full service expected to resume by the end of the day.

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