People charging their phones and warming themselves at a Point of Invincibility after a drone attack on critical infrastructure in Chernihiv region of Ukraine on Tuesday. — AFP LJUBLJANA, Oct 21 (AFP): French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said any negotiations regarding Ukraine's territory must be handled only by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"No one else can do this. Therefore, it is up to Ukraine to decide for itself and its territory, Macron told reporters when asked about a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss and end to the war in Ukraine.
Russian strikes caused widespread blackouts and cut off phone networks in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv, with repairs stalled by ongoing drone attacks on Tuesday.
Ukraine has restricted electricity consumption across the country in recent weeks following systematic Russian strikes on energy sites and the rail network.
The Chernigiv region, which was briefly occupied when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, has come under particularly heavy bombardment in recent weeks.
Its main city, also called Chernigiv, had an estimated pre-war population of 283,000 people.
"Critical infrastructure like hospitals have had to turn to autonomous power supply," a spokesman for the regional authorities told AFP, adding the severe outages began late Monday.
"There are also water problems for those living on the upper floors. The whole city and the surrounding area in the north is blacked out," Andriy Podorvan, the representative of Chernigiv regional military administration said.
The Ukrainian energy ministry said repair crews were unable to begin restoring damaged facilities due to "relentless" Russian drone attacks.
"The Russians deliberately launch unmanned aerial vehicles that continuously fly over damaged facilities, making it impossible to safely carry out repairs and intentionally prolonging the humanitarian crisis," it said in a statement.
Oleg, a vet in Chernigiv, told AFP he was working without electricity.
"There is no heat, and the animals are cold. There is no water to give them to drink. There is nothing to clean the premises with. There is no way to clean our instruments either," he added.
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