Electricity supply in the Crimean capital Simferopol has been reduced to four hours per day, said the head of the municipal administration, Gennady Bakharev, the FlashCrimea news agency reported Friday.
Simferopol residents had earlier enjoyed access to electricity for 12 and then nine hours per day, Bakharev added.
On Thursday, the RIA Novosti agency quoted Crimean Prosecutor General Natalya Poklonskaya as saying that the region had “suffered significant harm” after unknown attackers sabotaged the four power lines supplying electricity from mainland Ukraine last weekend.
Meanwhile, the Russian Energy Ministry denied earlier statements by Crimea's First Deputy Premier Mikhail Sheremet, who was reported as saying that 22 megawatts of energy would be supplied to the peninsula from Russia's southern Krasnodar region on Thursday night, the Telegraph.ru news website wrote.
On Thursday, personnel from the Ukrainian state-run energy company Ukrenergo restored one of the four sabotaged power lines; however, electricity supplies have not resumed.
The Ukrainian news website Korrespondent.net reported that the repaired Kakhovskaya-Titan line would only be able to satisfy 40 percent of the peninsula's total energy demand.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
