The regional administration said those who depend solely on electricity to power their homes should consider leaving. Officials said the Russian strikes targeted key transmission lines and equipment in the early hours of Saturday.
“According to preliminary forecasts, the restoration of energy facilities in the Odessa region will take longer than in previous attacks,” the administration said.
“We are not talking about days, but about weeks and possibly even two to three months,” it said in a Facebook post.
Odessa, Ukraine’s largest port city, had a population of over 1 million before Russia’s February 24 invasion.
Kiev says Russia has launched hundreds of Iranian-made Shahid-136 drones at targets in Ukraine and describes the attacks as war crimes because of their devastating effect on the lives of civilians. Moscow claims they are militarily legitimate.