Severe weather in Ukraine: 3 people die in Odesa, 14 highways blocked, over 2,000 settlements have no power supply

This was reported by Dumskaya and Suspilne with reference to the Odesa police.

According to the spokesperson for the Main Department of the National Police of the Odesa region, Liubov Hordievska, all three dead men were found in the Prymorskyi district of Odesa, but on different streets. Their identities are currently being established.

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

At the same time, Dumskaya notes that the body of a man with hypothermia was found in Shchepn Lane, the body of a woman was found at a bus stop on Akademika Lazareva Street, and the body of a man was found on Pryvokzalna Square. According to media reports, the victims are likely to be homeless.

"All three have no signs of violent death. We are checking the version that they died due to hypothermia, but only after the forensic examination of the cause of death can we say for sure," the police said.

The Department of Health of Odesa City Council reported that 27 people who had suffered street injuries or hypothermia due to the weather had already turned to the city's trauma centers, and three people were hospitalized.

The Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko reported about the state of roads, electricity supply, and the elimination of the consequences of the bad weather in the regions of Ukraine.

He indicated that the most challenging conditions are in the northern and southern parts of the Odesa region, where snowdrifts have reached up to one and a half meters. Responding to the weather situation involves the efforts of rescuers, police, National Guard, and border guards.

Border guards evacuated 42 people, including 10 children, from buses near the village of Udobne. Rescuers used a snowmobile to rescue 6 people on the Izmail-Reni highway. 

In addition, over 500 vehicles were towed in the region, including 14 buses and 12 emergency vehicles. 

A total of 1,624 people have been provided with aid, including 93 children. Six people were treated for hypothermia.

In Mykolaiv region, traffic is blocked on 10 road sections, with snowdrifts reaching two meters. The State Emergency Service units were engaged 49 times to eliminate the consequences of the weather, towing 75 vehicles.

Traffic is also hampered near the town of Kamenka, Cherkasy region. Police organized traffic in the reverse mode, and about 40 trucks were stopped for a while. Rescuers deployed mobile heating stations. 

A traffic jam has been cleared near the village of Velyka Vyska, Kirovograd region, with 30 trucks standing on the roadside. Rescuers have towed 164 vehicles and provided assistance to 293 people.

The Interior Minister added that in total, 2019 settlements in 16 regions of Ukraine have no power supply, 1,370 trucks are in temporary storage, and 840 vehicles have been towed away. 

Klymenko urged drivers to avoid traveling to regions where the weather is severe. The regions have also set up frost-proof stations and mobile heating units.

• On Sunday, November 26, Odesa and the region were covered with snow and ice formed on the roads. Due to the bad weather, traffic was blocked on three highways in the region. The bad weather caused a number of accidents that resulted in the first casualties, and schools were switched to distance learning.
• In Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova, heavy snowfall caused deaths and injuries. Also, due to the bad weather, Moldova suspended the passage of vehicles into its territory at two checkpoints on the border with Ukraine.
• On November 27, at 07:30 am, the entrance to Kyiv was closed to large vehicles due to snowfall.