At least 700,000 people across a swathe of southern Ukraine controlled by Russian forces were without power on Tuesday after Ukrainian drone attacks and shelling knocked out electricity substations.

Axar.az informs via Reuters, there was no immediate comment from Ukraine, but the attack, which targeted the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, appeared to be one of the largest of its kind on Russian-held territory since the war began in February 2022.

Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of Zaporizhzhia, said more than 600,000 people in nearly 500 settlements across the region had no electricity after Ukrainian shelling damaged high-voltage infrastructure.

“As a result of shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces, high-voltage equipment was damaged in the northwestern part of the Zaporizhzhia region,” Balitsky wrote on Telegram.

“There is no electricity throughout the region. The Ministry of Energy ... has been instructed to develop reserve sources of electricity as soon as possible. Health care facilities have been transferred to backup power supply sources.”

In the adjacent Kherson region, further west, Russia-appointed Governor Vladimir Saldo said debris from fallen drones had damaged two electricity substations, knocking out power to more than 100,000 residents of 150 towns and villages in Russian-held areas.

Emergency crews were working to restore power quickly, Saldo added.