Crimea receives 85% of its water and 80% of its electricity from mainland Ukraine.
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Crimean Tatars made up about 12 per cent of the region’s population before annexation, but up to 15,000 are believed to have left since, citing official harassment and intimidation.
Crimean Tatar activists and members of Ukrainian volunteer battalions that have fought in the east have manned roadblocks into Crimea since September, to put pressure on Russian Federation and its puppet rulers in the region. Police in Ukraine say they do not know who is responsible.
However, still around 1.6 million people were after the “blackout” without power at noon.
Public transport is still running and hospitals are using generators. The regional energy ministry has created an emergency response center to deal with the power cut. Monday was declared a non-working day.
The blackout cut cable and mobile internet and forced the closure of a few 150 schools.
Electric power supplies to the Crimea were interrupted as a result of subversive activities, when supports of electric power lines were demolished in the south of Ukraine.
In his letter, Poroshenko calls for a temporary suspension of cargo motor and rail communication with Crimea until the government makes a final decision on this matter.
Crimean Tatar activists suggested that the weakened pylons were blown down by the wind.
State-run energy firm Ukrenergo said it hoped to restore all the damaged lines within four days.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said Monday that Russia would “speed up the construction of the power bridge”, adding that supply deliveries should improve by mid-December.
The new spike in tensions with Moscow comes as Kiev expects a free trade agreement between Ukraine and the European Union to enter into force from January 1, 2016. Ukrainian activists opposed to Russia’s annexation of the peninsula clashed there with police on Saturday after trying to prevent fix work, but later retreated.
“Crimea has been fully shut off”, said Viktor Plakida, head of Crimea’s state energy company.
Crimean Tatar activists accuse Russian Federation of abusing Tatar rights and denying them a voice since a pro-Moscow government was installed in Crimea. Photos of severed towers with a Crimean-Tatar flag hanging on one of them have been posted online. “The Crimean government had enough time to prepare for such an eventuality”, Garnachuk, the former Crimean government official, said.
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“The emergency regime introduced in Crimea will continue until the full restoration of power supply to the peninsula”, he clarified later.
