Ukraine attacks on Russian-occupied Crimea trigger power cuts in Sevastopol

The largest city on the Russia-controlled peninsula has been left without power after attack on energy facilities there.

Ukrainian strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea have triggered power outages in its largest city, Sevastopol, according to statements from both sides, as Kyiv intensifies attacks on the peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.

Crimea has been forced to suspend fuel sales to the public as Ukraine’s army targets Russian logistics to the region and has hit a series of oil refineries and depots across southern Russia that provide supplies.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 4Ukraine strikes strategic Russian bridge in Crimea
• list 2 of 4Crimea halts fuel sales after Ukraine strikes cause shortages
• list 3 of 4Missile strike kills three in Ukraine as Russia feels war’s economic strain
• list 4 of 4Ukraine says it hit missile electronics plant in western Russia

Sevastopol’s Moscow-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, who reported power cuts after Ukraine attacked energy facilities there, urged residents on Wednesday to help vulnerable neighbours and reserve phones for emergency communication to save batteries and avoid overloading the grid.

“The enemy is once again striking treacherously, attempting to deprive us of normal living conditions and sow panic,” he posted.

He said some areas of the city – where temperatures are approaching 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) – would be without power until at least Wednesday evening.

Trolleybuses in Sevastopol will not operate on Wednesday, Razvozhayev said, as he also asked parents to keep children at home.

Russian-held parts of Ukraine’s nearby Kherson region were also partially or fully cut off from power, the Moscow-installed Governor Vladimir Saldo said separately.

Saldo did not provide further details.

Separate Ukrainian drone attacks killed two people in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, hundreds of kilometres from the front line, and one in the border region of Belgorod, the local governors reported.

Meanwhile, a Russian drone attack killed a 56-year-old woman in the Ukrainian border region of Kharkiv, authorities said.

Hundreds of drones destroyed

Russia’s defence ministry said the country’s forces had destroyed more than 300 drones from Ukraine overnight, with the warring neighbours having stepped up strikes in recent weeks.

Kyiv’s air force said on Wednesday that Russian forces launched 101 drones at Ukraine overnight, of which 95 were destroyed.

Kyiv said on Tuesday that its forces struck a railway bridge, a power plant and other key infrastructure targets in Crimea.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last week that his forces are “isolating Crimea with drones”.

“It looks like in the nearest time, Crimea will become an island. This could lead to some very unexpected consequences for Russians,” Fedorov said on a blogger’s YouTube channel.

US-led talks on ending Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have remained in effect frozen, with Washington’s attention diverted towards the Middle East since launching strikes on Iran in late February.