Crimea declared a state of emergency yesterday after its main electricity lines from Ukraine were blown up, leaving the Russian-annexed peninsula in darkness after the second such attack in as many days.
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The director of Crimea Energy, Viktor Plakida, told Russia’s Tass news agency “Crimea is completely cut off. It’s a blackout”.
So far, Crimea – home to 1.9 million people – has enough fuel to keep the gas and diesel-powered generators running, authorities said.
Emergency power-saving measures have been imposed: Sevastopol is getting three hours’ supply, followed by a six-hour cut; in Simferopol residents have three-hour power cuts three times a day.
A few power had been restored by late Sunday night but three-quarters of the country’s population remained in the dark, reports the BBC.
For more than two months, block Crimean Tatars and Ukrainian activist’s goods transports in the Crimea and request the caps in the power supply from the leadership in Kiev.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which is based in Crimea, was not affected by the power outage, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a fleet spokesman.
Video footage from a Tatar TV station posted on YouTube showed a group of activists clashing with members of Ukraine’s national guard who attempted to seal the area around a few of the damaged power lines on Saturday.
A leader of the ethnic Tatar community from the territory, which President Vladimir Putin annexed from Ukraine past year, said talks to restore power could resume after Russian Federation releases Ukrainian political prisoners.
It’s being suggested Ukrainian nationalists are behind the attack on Crimea’s power supplies.
Ukrainian authorities said they encountered activists blockading the site when they tried to fix the damaged pylons.
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The Crimean Civic Blockade said lines bringing electricity to the peninsula were down.
