A Russian bombardment of energy infrastructure cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in northern Ukraine's Chernihiv region on Tuesday, with repairs unable to start due to the lingering threat of drone strikes, Ukraine's energy ministry said.
It said that the regional capital, which had a pre-war population of about 280,000, and the northern part of the region had totally lost power.
Chernihiv has been hammered by Russian drone and missile attacks on its power infrastructure in recent weeks, causing regular blackouts and disrupting daily life.
"Emergency crews in Chernihiv region are unable to begin work on restoring power supply due to continuous attacks by Russian drones," the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
It accused Russia of launching drones to circle above damaged facilities to make it impossible to carry out repairs and "deliberately prolong the humanitarian crisis".
Chernihiv's acting mayor Oleksandr Lomako said Moscow was seeking to deprive local residents of power and heat ahead of the cold winter.
European leaders back Trump's ceasefire calls
As Russia continues its bombardment of Ukraine, European leaders, including from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union, issued a joint statement with Ukraine on Tuesday backing US President Donald Trump's call for a ceasefire at present battle lines.
"We strongly support President Trump's position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations," the statement said.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are planning to meet in Budapest, capital of Hungary, a NATO and EU member that has maintained warm relations with Moscow throughout the Ukraine war.
Russia has in the past demanded Ukraine cede more territory before a ceasefire, while Ukraine and its European allies have long called for an immediate halt to fighting so that talks can take place.
Trump called for a ceasefire on present lines after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday.
The statement said European leaders would meet later this week at an EU summit and in the format of the "coalition of the willing" of countries that back Ukraine. Zelensky will attend the coalition of the willing meeting on Friday in London.
The coalition - put together by France and Britain in February - has held talks for months at various levels to try to define plans for what countries could contribute militarily for Ukraine and to deter Russia from attacking it again once there is a final truce.
"We must ramp up the pressure on Russia's economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace. We are developing measures to use the full value of Russia's immobilised sovereign assets so that Ukraine has the resources it needs," Tuesday's statement added.