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Crimea declares state of emergency after power lines attacked Crimea declares state of emergency after power lines attacked
(about 7 hours later)
Crimea has declared a state of emergency after its main electricity power lines from Ukraine were blown up, leaving the Russian-annexed peninsula in darkness. 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.
Russia’s emergency situations ministry said on Sunday morning that it had managed to partially reconnect the cities of Simferopol, Feodosia, Yevpatoria and Yalta using generators. 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.
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. Cable and mobile internet stopped working, though there was still mobile phone coverage, and water supplies to high-rise buildings halted.
The four power lines that supply Crimea with electricity from Ukraine were first attacked in the early hours of Friday in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Explosions downed two lines and damaged the other two. Early on Sunday another explosion cut all power supply to Crimea. The identity of the attackers was unclear. 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.
In the port city of Sevastopol, electricity began shutting off around midnight and cut off completely at 2am on Sunday. Different districts have since had brief periods of power in what appears to be organised rolling blackouts. 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.”
Cable and mobile internet stopped working, although there was still mobile phone coverage, and water supplies to high-rise buildings halted. 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.
The Crimean branch of Russia’s emergency situations ministry said: “At 12.25am there was a switch-off of electricity coming into Crimea from Ukraine. By decision of the head of the Crimean republic, a state of emergency has been introduced on the peninsula. All socially significant or potentially dangerous installations … are being fuelled with reserve sources of energy.” “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.
It said power to housing would be supplied “on a rolling schedule” set by the regional power company. 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.
Mikhail Sheremet, the 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. 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!!!”
Crimean Tatars, an ethnic group native to the peninsula who oppose Russian rule, held a protest at the site of the broken power lines in the Kherson region on Saturday evening in favour of a blockade of Crimea, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.