Crimea hit by blackout again after power line breakdown

The Crimean peninsula was hit by a blackout for the second time in about a month after a pylon carrying the power line supplying electricity to it has collapsed in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday.

Ukrainian state-run energy company Ukrenergo said in a statement that the breakdown occurred at about 8:30 p.m. local time (1830 GMT) Wednesday at the Kakhovskaya-Tytan power line for an unknown reason.

Emergency crews are working on the site to determine the cause behind the pylon collapse and put the power line into operation, the Ukrenergo said.

Later in the day, the Interior Ministry's department in Kherson region said that the damaged power line was surrounded by police to avoid possible provocations.

Meanwhile, the activists, who have previously disrupted electricity and food supplies to Crimea from Ukraine, denied their responsibility for the latest power line breakdown, saying that the pylon collapse may have been caused by the strong wind.

In late November, the protesters, including ethnic Crimean Tatars and members of Ukrainian nationalist movements, allegedly destroyed several electricity pylons in Kherson region, including two important power lines leading to Crimea, leaving more than 1.8 million people in the Black Sea resort in blackout.

For more than a week, the activists were blocking the access for maintenance crews to the site to prevent repair works at the power line.

On Dec. 8, electricity supplies from Ukraine to Crimea were partially resumed. Endit