Sevastopol loses power after Ukrainian strikes on Crimea energy sites
Moscow-installed officials said Ukrainian attacks hit energy infrastructure in Crimea as both sides reported heavy overnight drone barrages.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
Ukrainian strikes on energy facilities in Russian-occupied Crimea caused power outages in Sevastopol on Wednesday, according to Moscow-installed officials. The disruption comes as Kyiv increases attacks on the peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and targets Russian supply routes serving the region, AFP, AP and Reuters reported.
Crimea has also suspended fuel sales to the public after Ukrainian attacks contributed to shortages, according to the agencies. Ukrainian forces have hit oil refineries and fuel depots in southern Russia that supply the peninsula, they reported.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, Sevastopol’s Moscow-installed governor, said Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure left parts of the city without electricity. He said some areas would remain without power until at least Wednesday evening as temperatures neared 30 degrees Celsius, or 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
Razvozhayev urged residents to check on vulnerable neighbours and use phones only for emergency communication to preserve batteries and avoid additional strain on the system. He said trolleybuses in the city would not run on Wednesday and asked parents to keep children at home.
Russian-held areas of Ukraine’s nearby Kherson region also faced partial or full power cuts, according to Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed governor there. Saldo did not give further details.
Drone attacks reported on both sides
Local governors in Russia said separate Ukrainian drone attacks killed two people in the Nizhny Novgorod region, hundreds of kilometres from the front line, and one person in Belgorod, a region bordering Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said a Russian drone attack killed a 56-year-old woman in the Kharkiv border region.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces destroyed more than 300 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine’s air force said Russian forces launched 101 drones at Ukraine during the same period and that 95 were destroyed.
Kyiv said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces struck a railway bridge, a power plant and other key infrastructure in Crimea. Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last week on a blogger’s YouTube channel that Ukraine was “isolating Crimea with drones” and said the peninsula could soon function like an island for Russian forces.
US-led efforts to end the war have remained stalled, AFP, AP and Reuters reported. The agencies said Washington’s attention has shifted toward the Middle East since US strikes on Iran in late February.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.