Ivan Koshel, the Russian-appointed head of the Kerch administration, said the city was completely blacked out following a Ukrainian drone attack overnight on July 15. According to Koshel, 'life-support systems' are operating on backup power, and all city services have been mobilized for emergency restoration work.
State-owned energy company Krymenergo said the attack also cut power to parts of the peninsula's northwestern and eastern energy districts. 'Electricity supply restrictions are in effect in Crimea. Power outages will occur promptly, depending on the situation in the energy districts,' the company said in a statement.
Water supplies in Crimea have also been limited due to damage to the grid, the local water operator reported, adding that repair work is underway.
The previous day, July 14, after Ukrainian drone attacks, rolling blackouts were introduced in Sevastopol. Russian-appointed city governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said the outages were caused by strikes on energy infrastructure.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has been using drones to strike energy infrastructure in annexed Crimea and occupied parts of Ukraine's Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.