Problems with electricity and water were reported in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zaporizhzhya, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, possibly impacting millions of people.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia was targeting civilian infrastructure "to deprive people of light and heat."

The blackouts come amid a counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces in the east, where it has recaptured dozens of towns and villages.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov claimed Russia struck the city’s thermal power plant, the second-largest in the country.

Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov said there is no electricity or water supply in several settlements.

"Emergency services are working to control fires at the sites that were hit," he said in a statement on social media.

Dmytro Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, also blamed Russia for blackouts that blanketed his region.

The head of the eastern region of Sumy said the cuts to electricity and water supplies had impacted at least 135 towns and villages.

Overall, the blackouts are impacting areas with more than 1 million people.

Based on reporting by AFP, Kyiv Independent