Widespread power outages are impacting Ukraine and neighboring Moldova on Saturday, disrupting services and raising concerns about the vulnerability of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure amid ongoing conflict. The outages,stemming from a technical malfunction at key transmission lines,have affected major cities including Kyiv and Kharkiv,temporarily halting subway operations and disrupting water supplies. Restoration efforts are underway, but the situation highlights the challenges facing Ukraine as it navigates a winter of potential energy shortages.
Updated 1:55 PM.
Ukraine experienced widespread power outages Saturday following a technical malfunction at an electricity transmission line connecting the country to Romania and Moldova. The disruption was reported by Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal in a post on Telegram.
The incident has raised concerns about the stability of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, already strained by months of conflict. The outages impacted major cities and prompted temporary disruptions to public transportation.
- Power outages struck Ukraine Saturday due to a transmission line failure.
- The malfunction affected connections to Romania, Moldova, and multiple regions.
- Kyiv and Kharkiv were among the cities experiencing power and water disruptions.
- Subway service in Kyiv and Kharkiv was temporarily suspended.
Cascading Power Failures
According to Shmyhal, the technical failure occurred at 10:42 a.m. local time (9:42 a.m. CET) and resulted in the simultaneous disconnection of a 400-kilovolt line between the power grids of Romania and Moldova, and a 750-kilovolt line between western and central Ukraine.
Shmyhal explained that this situation triggered cascading power failures across the Ukrainian power grid and activated automatic protection systems in substations. Some reactor units at nuclear power plants were temporarily disconnected from the grid or had their load reduced.
Emergency disconnection schedules were implemented in Kyiv, the Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, and Kharkiv regions.
Kyiv Without Water and Heating
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated he had been informed about the emergency situation and that authorities were working to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible. Subway service in Kyiv was temporarily suspended, and water supplies were also disrupted citywide, according to reports from AFP.
Officials assured residents that work was underway to restore power to the water and sewage systems. Experts estimate power should be restored within the next two to three hours, according to Ukrainian news outlet Ekonomichna Pravda.
Ukrainian media also reported disruptions to heating services. Heating had recently been restored to most buildings affected by previous Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Subway operations were also suspended in the city of Kharkiv due to the technical issues.
The Odesa City Council shared a video Saturday showing that freezing weather conditions across the Odesa region led to downed high-voltage wires and damage to the electrical grid.
Ukraine’s power grid has been severely impacted in recent months by a series of massive Russian attacks that have damaged power plants and transformers.
Power supplies for ordinary consumers have been significantly limited for weeks. The Moldovan Ministry of Energy confirmed that Moldova’s energy system was hit by an emergency outage Saturday due to problems in Ukraine’s power grid.
Power outages were also reported in the Moldovan capital, Chișinău, and other parts of the country. Traffic lights were also not functioning.
Ukrainian news site European Pravda reported that traffic has been suspended at the Ukraine-Moldova border due to a shutdown of the central database of Moldovan customs authorities.
No Hackers Involved in Outage
Ukraine ruled out that hackers caused the power outage.
“The emergency situation in the energy system was not caused by a cyberattack. As the President said, the accident occurred due to technological reasons on the lines between the energy systems of Ukraine and Moldova. The Ukrainian energy system is responding. Restoration work is underway,” the Ministry of Digital Transformation said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
