Kyiv bans delivery of goods to Crimea, fails to fix power lines
Ukraine stopped sending electricity to the peninsula after the two supports of the high-voltage grid repaired recently have been blown up again on the Ukrainian territory by Crimean Tatars.
There has been disruption to road and rail traffic to and from Crimea since Ukrainian nationalists and Crimean Tatars began a border blockade in September.
It comes after four pylons were blown up by unknown attackers over the weekend in Kherson, a region of the Ukrainian mainland controlled by Kyiv.
The authorities in Crimea, which depends on Kyiv for most of its power supplies, have suggested Ukraine was involved in the blast.
Water supplies were also disrupted as the power cut knocked out pumping stations.
The authorities say that hospitals and offices are supplied electricity made by small generators. A state of emergency was declared, and most workers in the region were allowed to stay home on Monday.
There’s no word on who was responsible for Sunday’s explosions that brought down power pylons that serve Crimea from the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, but evidently their work isn’t done.
But Ukraine’s state energy company, Ukrenergo, said the damage was caused by “shelling or the use of explosive devices”.
“The Ukrainian government temporarily suspends the movement of goods between Ukraine and Crimea at the initiative of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk”, Ukraine’s government said in a statement.
Russia’s Energy Ministry said emergency electricity supplies had been turned on for critical needs in Crimea and that mobile gas turbine generators were being used.
Tensions have spiked as Kyiv’s landmark free-trade agreement with the European Union is set to come into force on January 1, 2016.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea plunged relations between Kyiv and Moscow into a crisis deepened by a rebellion by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Pro-Ukrainian activists have so far prevented repairs to the damaged pylons and associated power lines.
“There are different options, political ones, economic ones”, said Novak, when asked how Russian Federation could retaliate. “This is an absolutely groundless assertion and the quick reaction of the government regarding repairs on the power lines and its guaranteeing of security for people in the emergency zone is proof of this”, it said in emailed comments. Sevastopol is getting three hours’ supply, followed by a six-hour cut; in Simferopol residents have three-hour power cuts three times a day.