Christmas tree and festive facades: How Odesa creates a New Year's mood despite the blackout

In Odesa, local authorities and businesses are preparing for the New Year holidays. A Christmas tree has appeared in the city centre, and the facades of establishments are decorated with festive décor.

See what New Year's Odesa looks like today in the photo report NikVesti.

The city is preparing for the New Year holidays amid a blackout that has been going on for a week due to constant shelling of energy facilities. The whole of Odesa was left without electricity on the night of 13 December, when the enemy carried out one of the most massive air attacks.

Some buildings have since been restored to power, but most remain without electricity and the sound of generators can be heard throughout the city.

«Odesa was the hardest hit, with about 65,000 households without power», wrote Oleksii Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for Recovery, on 19 December.

At the same time, Odesa has been under round-the-clock shelling for several days in a row «by the Shaheds», with Russians striking the city with ballistic missiles. One of the last air raids in the city lasted 452 minutes — from 09:38 to 17:10 on 18 December. After that, the next air alert was announced 28 minutes later.

Nevertheless, the city's main Christmas tree has appeared in the centre of Odesa, a fairground is being set up, and local businesses are decorating their facades with Christmas decorations.

Shelling of Mykolaiv region on 13 December: what is known

At night and in the early hours of 13 December, Russian forces attacked critical and industrial infrastructure in Mykolaiv and the region. As a result of the shelling, settlements in Bashtanka and Mykolaiv districts were left without electricity.

Later it became known that five people were injured in the Russian attack on 13 December in Mykolaiv. Critical and industrial infrastructure and the private sector were damaged.

According to Vitalii Kim, three people were hospitalised — a 43-year-old man, a 48-year-old woman and a 16-year-old teenager. They are in moderate condition. Two more people were treated on an outpatient basis.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych added that it was one of the most massive attacks in Mykolaiv and the region in recent times.

As of the morning of 14 December, it became known that three private houses in Mykolaiv had been destroyed as a result of a massive combined Russian attack, and 78 other houses were damaged.

Subsequently, the director of the utility company «Mykolaivoblteploenergo», Mykola Lohvinov, said that boiler houses with a large number of consumers had been operating for five hours during the power outages, and then were shut down for another five hours.

In two days, the utility company «Mykolaivoblteploenergo» purchased 24 tonnes of diesel fuel for generators that keep the city's critical infrastructure running during power outages. In addition, Lohvinov added that despite the «large team, there are still not enough people», as each generator must be monitored during start-up and operation.