(Reuters) -Russian drones struck energy sites in Ukraine early on Wednesday and knocked out power to over 500,000 consumers in the northern Sumy region, officials said.
The Sumy regional authority, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, said the drones attacked the cities of Shostka and Konotop, northeast of Kyiv and near the Russian border.
Ukraine's air force shot down seven drones used in the attack, according to the regional authorities.
The Ukrainian military said it had shot down all 24 drones Russia launched in the overnight attack, which targeted five other regions in the country's south and east.
The attack on Sumy also impacted power supplies to consumers in the neighbouring Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions.
National grid operator Ukrenergo said 95% of consumers impacted by power cuts in the three regions after the attack received power on Wednesday morning.
Gas transit through the Sumy region was not disrupted by the drone attacks, industry sources told Reuters.
As Russian troops pushed their way across the border into northeastern Kharkiv region a little more than a week ago, officials have warned about a buildup of troops and a possible push into the adjacent Sumy region.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski, Anastasiia Malenko, Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Stephen Coates, Gerry Doyle and Kim Coghill)
