March 8, 2026, 11:57 a.m.
(PHOTO: DTEK Odesa Power Grids)
DTEK Odesa Power Grids, the electricity distribution operator, has released photos of the melted cables, explaining that this accident is the reason why 11,000 consumers in Odesa's Prymorskyi district have no electricity supply.
According to the company, electrician crews have been continuously repairing cable lines in cable channels at a depth of 1.5 meters for two days.
"This is what cables that have burned out due to excessive load look like. The simultaneous use of an iron, washing machine, oven and boiler in my house alone has extraordinary consequences," DTEK emphasized.
PHOTO: DTEK Odesa Power Grids
The company also said that the energy infrastructure was severely damaged due to the shelling. Some substations are operating at half and sometimes at a third of their capacity. Therefore, the normal scheme of light delivery does not work, cables are overloaded and fail. Their repair is always lengthy and takes up to three days on average.
Meanwhile, residents of Odesa sometimes cannot stand long power outages and block the streets, walking across pedestrian crossings from side to side, hampering traffic. The last such blockade took place on March 7 on Mechnikova Street.
PHOTO: Facebook
People also blocked Kosmonavtiv Street because of the power outage. The protesters complained that the houses on the odd-numbered side of the street were only given electricity once every two days, and then in the middle of the night.
Power outages also periodically lead to water supply disruptions, as in late February, water supply was interrupted in Odesa due to the de-energization of water supply facilities. Then, on February 23, the DTEK Odesa Power Grids energy facility was damaged in a night attack. It was the fourth attack on this substation since the beginning of the war. Over the past three days, three substations have been heavily damaged by enemy shelling.
Кирило Бойко