Ukraine war
Ukraine wariStock

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power on Saturday after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, officials said, according to Reuters.

The officials added it could take months to repair the damage.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that more than 1.5 million people in the southern port city and surrounding region had no electricity, and he described the situation as very difficult.

The regional administration said people who relied solely on electricity to power their homes should consider leaving. Officials said Russian strikes hit key transmission lines and equipment in the early hours of Saturday.

"According to preliminary forecasts, it will take much more time to restore energy facilities in the Odesa region than after previous attacks," the administration said, as quoted by Reuters.

"We are talking not about days, but even weeks and possibly even two to three months," it said in a Facebook post.

Odesa, Ukraine's largest port city, had a population of over 1 million before Russia's February 24 invasion.

Russia has been using Iranian-made drones to attack targets in Ukraine.

In September, Ukraine reported the first Russian attacks carried out using Iranian-made drones, targeting the south of the country, including the strategic city of Odessa on the Black Sea.

At the start of October, Iranian-made drones were also reportedly used in an attack in the Ukrainian town of Bila Tserkva, southwest of the capital Kyiv.

Iran initially denied that it supplied Russia with drones. However, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, recently acknowledged for the first time that his country gave drones to Russia, saying that the deliveries happened before the war started. Iranian officials had previously denied sending any drones to Russia.

Zelenskyy later said in an address to the Ukrainian people that he knows Iran’s claims are false.