Explosions on Friday and Sunday cut off electricity supply from Ukraine, forcing Russian-annexed peninsula to rely on generators

Almost 2 million Crimeans were left without power and in darkness at the weekend after unknown saboteurs blew up power lines to the peninsula, underscoring its continued dependence on Ukraine despite its annexation by Russia last year.

A state of emergency was declared after four pylons that transmit power to Crimea were blown up on Friday and Saturday night. Russia’s energy ministry scrambled to restore electricity to cities using generators, but the majority of people on the peninsula remained powerless on Saturday night.

Cable and mobile internet stopped working, though there was still mobile phone coverage, and water supplies to high-rise buildings halted.

The attacks threaten to complicate still-volatile relations between Moscow and Kiev after 18 months of on-off conflict over territory in the east of Ukraine. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014 after an armed but bloodless intervention, but the territory’s status remains precarious because of its reliance on Ukraine.

The Crimean prime minister, Sergei Aksyonov, called the destruction of the electricity supply a “terrorist act”. “No one will bring Crimeans to their knees, we won’t allow for negotiations,” he said. “We won’t let anyone speak to us in the language of blackmail.”

The Crimean prosecutor general, Natalya Poklonskaya, said a criminal case would opened over the destruction of the power lines across the de facto border with Ukraine, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

“All their methods, all their doings fall under the action of a punishable crime,” she said. Monday has been declared a holiday in Crimea due to the power situation.

The four pylons were first attacked on Friday in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Explosions downed two lines and damaged the other two. Early on Sunday another explosion cut all power to Crimea. The identity of the attackers was unclear.

After the first attack on Friday, Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state-run energy company, posted pictures of a downed pylon and one with a hole blown through it. The head of the anti-narcotics department of Ukraine’s interior ministry, Ilya Kiva, who was at the scene, wrote on Facebook: “The pylons have just been blown up!!!”

On Saturday, the pylons were the scene of violent clashes between activists from the Right Sector nationalist movement and paramilitary police, Ukrainian media reported. Ukrainian nationalists have long been agitating for an energy blockade of Crimea to exert pressure on the former Ukrainian territory.



Russian state media reported that the energy ministry had offered to help fix the lines but was rejected by the Ukrainian authorities, who said they could fix the problem themselves. The emergencies ministry has created a team of 3,000 employees and 1,000 pieces of equipment to “facilitate daily living” in Crimea, the deputy head, Alexander Chupriyan, said. He warned that the power outage could continue for a long time.

Mikhail Sheremet, first deputy premier of Crimea, said the peninsula could only supply half its power needs at most using diesel generators and renewable sources such as wind and solar power, the Tass state news agency reported. Crimea experienced several total power cuts last winter, attributed by the authorities to repairs and technical problems but seen by residents as deliberate pressure from Ukraine.

Russia plans to build two power stations in Crimea that would burn gas piped from the mainland, but these are still at the planning stage. Officials said there was enough fuel to keep the gas- and diesel-powered generators running.

Crimea provides only 30% of its own energy, according to the regional government, and depends on Ukraine for much of its electricity supplies.



