At least 13 people were killed and dozens more were injured in Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia as a result of a devastating winter storm that swept through Southeastern Europe and along the Black Sea coast. The storm brought down trees, power lines, and left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported that five people were killed and 19 were injured in Odesa, emphasizing the need for communities to take action to prevent further loss of life due to severe weather.
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry stated that 882 settlements in 12 regions were without power due to strong wind and snowfall. The Odesa region was the most affected, with 313 settlements without electricity, impacting about 110,000 consumers. The Ukrainian Emergency Service reported that 1,233 vehicles had to be towed and 164 trees removed.
The storm also caused significant damage in Moldova, Bulgaria, and Romania, with authorities in Moldova reporting nine road accidents resulting in two deaths and 14 injuries. In Russia, about 1.9 million people were affected by power cuts in several southern regions as well as in the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. The storm also led to casualties in the Krasnodar region and Russian-occupied Crimea.
In the aftermath of the storm, hundreds of cities and villages in Romania and Moldova were left without electricity and water, with severe disruption of road and railway traffic. In Bulgaria, a state of emergency was declared in several areas due to heavy snowfall and blizzards, leaving around 1,000 settlements without electricity.
Overall, the winter storm caused widespread devastation and loss of life in multiple countries along the Black Sea coast, underscoring the urgent need for preparedness and response measures to mitigate the impact of such extreme weather events.