CHANGES HEADLINE, SPOT & LEDE; ADDS STATEMENTS ON KYIV AND MYKOLAIV; EDITS THROUGHOUT
By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - At least 18 people were injured in Ukraine's capital Kyiv and the city of Mykolaiv due to overnight Russian airstrikes, officials said.
"Seven injured in Pechersk district. Two of them are hospitalized. Others were treated by medics on the spot. Rescuers continue to clear the debris," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
Earlier, Ukraine's power grid operator Ukrenergo said it implemented emergency shutdowns in the southwestern Odesa region after two of its substations were attacked in an overnight Russian drone attack.
“Due to damage to the equipment in Odesa and the Odesa region, the power industry has been forced to increase consumption restriction periods,” the operator said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s private energy provider DTEK also confirmed the incident, saying energy workers managed to restore power supply to critical infrastructure facilities, but the situation remains difficult.
Ukraine's air force said eight out of nine drones launched by Russia from the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, were downed over the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, later said air defenses downed two ballistic missiles also launched from Crimea.
Meanwhile, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said 11 people were injured after a drone fell and caused a fire in a residential building in the administrative center of the region.