In September, Tatar activists on the mainland set up road blocks on the two main routes leading into Crimea at the start of what they said was an economic blockade aimed at dramatizing the plight of their Tatar brethren living on the peninsula.
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Ukraine is not repairing the sabotaged power lines supplying energy to the Crimean peninsula for “political reasons”, said Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak.
Earlier on Friday, unidentified saboteurs damaged two of Kherson’s four electricity transmission towers, prompting Crimean authorities to issue warnings of possible power cuts.
Crimea has been plunged into darkness after pylons carrying power lines which supply electricity from Ukraine were reportedly blown up on Saturday night.
KIEV, Ukraine-Ukraine said Monday it would restore electricity to Russian-annexed Crimea within three days after pylons were blown up, but appeared to make a major concession to activists blocking fix work by imposing a temporary ban on all commercial traffic to the contested region.
Activists running the Crimea blockade, including members of the Right Sector’s ultra-nationalistic paramilitary, clash with Ukraine’s national guard as officers attempt to seal the area around the downed electrical towers on Saturday.
A video report by Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR shows Ukrainian police and soldiers donning kevlar and helmets, and armed with Kalashnikovs, shoving and arguing with the crowd of activists.
The year and a half has seen North Atlantic Treaty Organisation carry out feverish war preparations in Central and Eastern Europe, under the banner of countering Russia’s alleged violation of Ukrainian sovereignty over the peninsula.
“Crimea has been completely cut off”, the Krymenergo energy company’s director Viktor Plakida told TASS, adding that he could not immediately provide any more details.
“I would like to emphasise that Ukraine will respond in similar ways”, he said.
The autonomous republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol became Russian regions in March 2014 following a referendum recognized by Moscow.
Crimean authorities said hospitals were working from backup generators.
The leader of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, urged the residents of the peninsula “to prepare for the worst”, saying the power blackout could well last until late December. The Black Sea Fleet was switched to a back-up power source, the city’s governor said.
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Russian Federation plans to build two gas-powered power stations in Crimea which would burn gas piped from the mainland, but these are still at the planning stage.
