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Power is out across the Crimean pensinsula, after electrical towers in the neighboring Ukrainian region of Kherson were blown up by a group of unknown people.
The Crimean Emergencies Ministry has declared a state of emergency due to the massive blackout and has put rescue teams on high alert.
Crimean authorities moved to connect vital infrastructure, such as hospitals to reserve power stations and generators on Saturday.
“Crimea has been completely cut off,” the Krymenergo energy company’s director Viktor Plakida told TASS, according to RT.
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Crimea is cut off power. Pillar is down pic.twitter.com/EgCr9bEjBq https://t.co/19e7fJIglX
— Eugene Yaroslavsky (@_eyar_)
November 21, 2015
Just days before, two electrical towers in the Ukrainian region of Kherson were also attacked. These towards provide electricity to Crimea and the southern Ukranian provinces.
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Teams have been sent to repair the downed electrical towers, but they have been met by Ukrainian activists who have tried to prevent them from reconnecting the energy supply.
The news agency RIA Novosti reported clashes at the sites, but police later announced that the conflict had been resolved.
«Правый сектор» захватил поврежденные опоры #ЛЭП, ведущие в Крым https://t.co/v1oOnIQ7Lj Фото: batalion. azov pic.twitter.com/TdZoyZjMVm
— Телеканал ЗВЕЗДА (@zvezdanews)
November 21, 2015
Crimea is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea and it is an area of largely pro-Russian sentiment.
The region has 2.3 million inhabitants, most of whom identify themselves as ethnic Russians and speak the Russian language.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Ukraine became one of the Socialist Republics that formed the Soviet Union, or USSR. In March 2014, Crimeans overwhelmingly voted for independence from Ukraine and to join Russia.
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