Sevastopol has abandoned its scheduled power outage regime of two hours on, six hours off, as the city's energy system faces a capacity deficit, the Russian-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said. Instead, blackout commands are now issued in real time by the system dispatcher, making precise schedules impossible, he said.
Power is prioritized for hospitals, pumping stations and other critical infrastructure. If a neighboring building has electricity, it is likely connected to the same line as a facility that cannot be disconnected, Razvozhayev explained. Authorities hope to stabilize the system by evening and return to the '2 on, 6 off' schedule, though exact timings may shift depending on grid load and dispatcher commands, he added.
Rolling blackouts were introduced in Sevastopol after a strike on the city's energy infrastructure on the night of July 14. According to the Telegram channel 'Crimean Wind,' the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant, one of Crimea's two largest power stations, was hit. The plant uses Siemens turbines that were brought to the peninsula in 2017 in circumvention of EU sanctions. The power outages have halted trolleybus service.
Earlier, energy workers had switched to a '3 on, 3 off' schedule, but on July 17, Sevastopolenergo reported that due to a growing capacity deficit, it was technically impossible to maintain that regime. By midday, the city had also lost the '2 on, 6 off' schedule.
Residents of northern Crimea have been living with virtually no electricity or water since the beginning of July. In some homes, power appears for only a few minutes, and water for a couple of hours. In certain settlements, mobile phone service operates on a schedule — eight hours per day. Authorities have promised free bottled gas for socially vulnerable categories, but locals complain that officials cannot explain who exactly qualifies for assistance.
A payment of 15,000 rubles for the emergency regime is available to those who have been without power for more than 48 hours, as recorded by Krymenergo. However, there is a loophole: if the power comes on for even a minute, the clock resets. According to eyewitness accounts, in the Dzhankoi and Nizhnegorsk districts, some men were required to provide a copy of their passport with a military registration stamp to receive compensation, although no such requirement exists in republican documents.
Since the beginning of July, the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces have daily reported strikes on tankers and other vessels of Russia's 'shadow fleet' in the Azov and Black Seas that carry fuel to Crimea. Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov explained the goal of the strikes as isolating Crimea with drones.