Yesterday, Crimea declared a state of emergency after its main electricity lines from Ukraine were blown up by unknown attackers, leaving the Russian-annexed peninsula in darkness after the second such attack in as many days.
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The Russian media, however, is reporting that two pylons in the Kherson region of Ukraine north of Crimea have been blown up by Ukrainian nationalists.
Teams have been sent to fix the downed electrical towers, but they have been met by Ukrainian activists who have tried to prevent them from reconnecting the energy supply.
Meanwhile, top official from Ukrainian Interior Ministry, Illya Kiva, reported that Russian military equipment was brought to the border between mainland Ukraine and Crimea.
Around 2.5 million residents of Crimea have been left with no constant electricity supply as a result.
When the first two traces were shutdown on Friday, Crimea’s ministry of energy and vitality informed people that distractions while in the power were probable and encouraged that they fill up on batteries, water along with other basics.
Ukraine’sInterior Ministry said Monday it had opened several criminal investigations, including one for blowing up the pylons and two for injuring police officers during a protest nearby.
He pointed out it was not accidental that Ukraine has continued the chain of latest terrorist attacks and disrupted power supply to Crimea, which until recently it had regarded as its territory.
The stand-off ended in clashes with Ukrainian riot police, who were dispatched to the site. A few 150 schools were also without power.
It’s being suggested Ukrainian nationalists are behind the attack on Crimea’s power supplies.
The government in Crimea imposed rolling blackouts on most residential neighborhoods and announced that it had enough fuel on hand for emergency generators to keep them running for a month.
Gas-powered generators were deployed to provide power to Russian naval facilities and to parts of the main cities, including the administrative city of Simferopol, Radio Free Europe reports.
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The local airport, Kerch Strait ferry line to mainland Russian Federation, as well as bus and railway stations are operating normally, the head of information department within the local emergency services Vladimir Ivanov said.
