The critical infrastructure of Odesa, which was de-energized as a result of large-scale power outages caused by important equipment catching fire in the early hours of 4 February, has been connected to power supply, Interfax-Ukraine has reported.
"The critical infrastructure of the city, including water supply, sewage, and heat supply systems, has now been powered up," Volodymyr Kudrytskyy, CEO of the Ukrainian energy company Ukrenergo, said at a briefing in the Odesa media centre.
According to him, Ukrenergo, together with the grid operator DTEK Odesa Power Grids, the Ministry of Energy, the State Emergency Service, and other services, is working on the possibility of reconnecting critical infrastructure to autonomous sources.
The plan is to free up power that can be transferred to ordinary consumers in the city and region.
At an urgent government meeting on 4 February, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to set up a round-the-clock headquarters headed by the minister of energy, with the participation of the acting interior minister, heads of the State Emergency Service and the regional state administration, the head of Ukrenergo, and representatives of the Ministry of Infrastructure to deal with the consequences of a large-scale power accident in Odesa.
On the morning of 4 February, a large-scale accident occurred at an Ukrenergo substation, leaving Odesa and part of Odesa District without power.
The large-scale accident at the substation which supplies power to Odesa was caused by the failure of equipment that had been repeatedly repaired after Russian missile attacks.