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Crimea declares state of emergency following power outage

Sunday, 22 November 2015 6:18 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 22 November 2015 6:18 AM ]

The picture shows a man walking with an umbrella during a power outage in the Crimean city of Simferopol, December 26, 2014. ©AFP

The Crimean Peninsula, which seceded from Ukraine and rejoined Russia in March last year, has declared a state of emergency after its major electricity power lines from Ukraine were “blown up,” causing a power outage there.

“By decision of the head of the Crimean Republic, a state of emergency has been introduced on the peninsula,” the Crimean branch of Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a statement released on Sunday, citing a switch-off of electricity coming into the region from Ukraine in the early hours of the day.

Ilya Kiva, the head of the anti-narcotics department of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday that “the pylons have just been blown up.’

However, Crimean authorities later said that they had managed to partially reconnect the cities of Simferopol and Yalta as well as the town of Saky by using generators.

The incident is the second of its kind over the past few days in the Black Sea peninsula. Ukraine’s news agency (UNIAN) reported that two of the main power lines into Crimea had been attacked on Friday.

Ukraine’s state energy company, Ukrenergo, released pictures of a downed pylon and one with a hole blown through.

“The nature of the damage shows that it took place as a result of shelling or the use of explosive devices,” Ukrenergo said in a statement.

The file photo shows damaged electricity pylons near the Crimean border with Ukraine.

Crimea is dependent on Ukraine for electricity. Russia is constructing an energy bridge to the peninsula, which is expected to be put into operation before the end of 2015.

The peninsula declared independence from Ukraine on March 17, 2014 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum a day earlier, in which 96.8 percent of participants voted in favor of the secession. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.

The move sparked angry reactions from the United States and the European Union, both of which imposed several rounds of sanctions against Moscow. Russia has, in return, adopted retaliatory measures against many Western entities.

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