Ukraine bar: Moscow: Nearly two million people without electricity +++ Videos show storms over Crimea

A storm over the Black Sea caused severe damage to the Ukrainian coast, Russian-occupied Ukrainian Crimea, and southern Russia.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, a 110-meter-high chimney belonging to a thermal power plant in the coastal city of Odessa collapsed on Monday night due to the snowstorm. A number of power lines were cut and substations were disrupted. According to official information, nearly 150,000 families in the region were still without electricity on Monday morning.

Heat supply has now been restored after thermal power plants in Odessa were closed for hours on Sunday due to power fluctuations. The Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Russia has annexed since 2014, was also severely affected. According to media reports, seven people were injured, and a 50-year-old man was swept into the sea and drowned.

The Moscow-appointed governor of the region, Sergei Aksyonov, declared a state of emergency. He admitted on his Telegram channel on Monday that “there are currently 425,000 people without electricity.” Roads had to be closed due to fallen trees and continued snowfall. Floods occurred in several cities.

The coastal city of Sevastopol suffered particularly severe damage, where, among other things, 800 animals from the local aquarium died due to flooding. The storm demolished the roofs of 42 homes in the city. Several vehicles, including a bus, were damaged by falling trees.

In the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, the KTK oil terminal in Novorossiysk was forced to stop operating due to the storm. Much of Kazakh oil is shipped west through the terminal. At the same time, a large cargo ship was pushed onto a sandbank in front of the city of Anapa.

The rescue operation remains impossible so far due to bad weather conditions. The storm also covered homes in several coastal towns in the area. The railway between Tuapse and Adler was forced to stop working, as was Sochi Airport.