Most of Ukraine’s Chernihiv region has no power after Russian attack
2026.03.21 12:20 Yevheniia Yeremina, 89, stands in her kitchen using a gas stove to warm her apartment, which has no electricity and heating, in Kyiv on January 26. Russia has often attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid its invasion. Photo: AFP Most of Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region was left without power on Saturday after a Russian drone attack, local governor Viacheslav Chaus said. He said repair works were under way to fix the damage. The region, which borders Russia and Belarus, had a pre-war population of nearly a million. The regional capital, also called Chernihiv, was fully without power, the city administration there said. Russia has conducted a vast bombardment campaign against Ukrainian energy facilities throughout the war, causing regular, hours-long blackouts across the country. Meanwhile, Moscow has thwarted protests over the blocking of the popular messaging app, Telegram, but frustration persists. In one Russian city, officials blocked a rally due to a “tree inspection”. Elsewhere, they blamed snow removal problems or still-existing Covid-19 restrictions. And in one location, administrators argued that the reason for the protest did not exist. Authorities in nearly a dozen Russian regions in recent weeks cited various excuses to prevent demonstrations against internet censorship and the blocking of the app. In most cases, they succeeded. Mindful of a crackdown on dissent since the four-year-old invasion of Ukraine, activists decided not to risk holding unauthorised rallies, even if they were not about the war. Varvara (whose name has been changed to protect her identity) poses for a picture during an interview with journalists on February 5 in Moscow. She joined an anti-war protest in 2022 but now does not dare to criticise the Kremlin. Photo: AFP Some went to court to challenge government refusals to authorise pickets, while others scaled them back to smaller indoor gatherings. But the disapproval persists across the polit
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