Russia Drones Smash Power Network in Ukraine’s Odesa, Leaving 1.5 Million without Power

A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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Russia Drones Smash Power Network in Ukraine’s Odesa, Leaving 1.5 Million without Power

A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday. 

"The situation in the Odesa region is very difficult," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. 

"Unfortunately, the hits were critical, so it takes more than just time to restore electricity... It doesn't take hours, but a few days, unfortunately." 

Since October, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone strikes. 

Norway was sending $100 million to help restore Ukraine's energy system, Zelenskiy said. 

Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for Odesa's regional administration, said electricity for the city's population will be restored "in the coming days," while complete restoration of the networks may take two to three months. 

Bratchuk said an earlier Facebook post by the region's administration, advising some people to consider evacuating, was being investigated by Ukraine's security services as "an element of the hybrid war" by Russia. 

That post has since been deleted. 

"Not a single representative of the authorities in the region made any calls for the evacuation of the inhabitants of Odesa and the region," Bratchuk said. 

Odesa had more than 1 million residents before the Feb. 24 invasion that Russia calls a "special military operation" to "denazify" its smaller neighbor. 

Kyiv says Russia has launched hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones at targets in Ukraine, describing the attacks as war crimes due to their devastating effect on civilian life. Moscow says its attacks are militarily legitimate and that it does not target civilians. 

Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said two power facilities in Odesa region were hit by Shahed-136 drones. 

Ukraine's armed forces said on Facebook that 15 drones had been launched against targets in the southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv, and 10 had been shot down. 

Tehran denies supplying the drones to Moscow. Kyiv and its Western allies say that is a lie. 

Britain's defense ministry said on Saturday that it believed Iran's military support for Russia was likely to increase in the coming months, including possible deliveries of ballistic missiles. 



Sheinbaum Says She Rejected Trump's Offer to Send Troops to Mexico

FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends her morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends her morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
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Sheinbaum Says She Rejected Trump's Offer to Send Troops to Mexico

FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends her morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends her morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump had proposed sending US troops to Mexico to combat drug trafficking, but said she had rejected that offer because "sovereignty is not for sale."
Sheinbaum's comments were in response to questions about a Wall Street Journal report published on May 2 that said Trump was pressuring Mexico to allow deeper US military involvement against drug cartels to combat trafficking across the shared border.
"In one of the calls, (Trump) said, 'How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the US Army come in to help you,'" said Sheinbaum, who was speaking at a university event near the capital on Saturday.
"And you know what I told him? No, President Trump, the territory is sacrosanct, sovereignty is sacrosanct, sovereignty is not for sale, sovereignty is loved and defended," the president said, adding that while the two countries can collaborate, "we will never accept the presence of the United States military in our territory."
A spokesperson for the US National Security Council (NSC) said in response to a Reuters request for comment that Trump had been "crystal clear that Mexico must do more to combat these gangs and cartels and the United States stands ready to assist and expand the already close cooperation between our two countries."
The council spokesperson added that Trump had worked closely with Sheinbaum to achieve the "most secure southwest border in history", however, "dangerous foreign terrorist organizations continue to threaten our shared security and the drugs and crime they spread threaten American communities across the country," the spokesperson said.
The White House did not immediately respond when asked by Reuters whether Trump had raised troop deployments with Sheinbaum.
Trump has said publicly that the US would take unilateral military action if Mexico failed to dismantle drug cartels. The two leaders have had several calls in recent months to discuss security issues, trade and immigration.
Sheinbaum went on to explain that during one of the calls she had asked Trump for help to prevent weapons from entering Mexico from the United States that fuel violence and trafficking.
"We can collaborate, we can work together, but you can do it in your territory, we can do it in ours," Sheinbaum said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that tension between the two leaders rose towards the end of an April 16 telephone conversation when Trump pushed to have US armed forces take a leading role in tackling Mexican drug gangs that produce and smuggle fentanyl to the US.
In February, the US designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, which some analysts have warned could be a stepping stone to such military action.
Airborne surveillance of Mexican drug cartels by the US military has also increased, as part of efforts to collect intelligence to determine how to best counter their activities.
Sheinbaum has since proposed a constitutional reform aimed at adding protections to Mexico's national sovereignty.