The Russian-installed administration in Ukraine’s Kherson region has said that Kherson city lost water and power supply after what it called an act of “sabotage”.
In a statement on Telegram, the Russian-controlled Kherson administration said electricity and power supplies were down after a “terrorist attack” damaged three power lines on the Berislav-Kakhovka highway in an occupied part of the region.
It said that the attack was carried out by Ukraine, though it provided no evidence.
The outages are a “result of an attack organised by the Ukrainian side on the Berislavkakhovka highway that saw three concrete poles of high-voltage power lines damaged.”
It is the first time that Kherson, which fell into the Russian control just days of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February- has seen such a power outage.
Yuriy Sobolevskyi, deputy head of Kherson regional council, said about 10 settlements in the region were affected, as well as the main city.
Russian officials have said Ukraine is preparing to attempt a second offensive to retake more of the Kherson region. Recapturing it would have immense symbolic and logistical value for Ukraine as Russia wants the area to secure a water supply in Crimea, as well as a land bridge to Russia.
Energy specialists were working to “quickly resolve the issue, the Russian backed authorities said, as they called on people to “remain calm”. Kherson’s Moscow-appointed governor, Vladimir Saldo, said authorities hoped to have power back by the end of Monday.
Kherson is one of fur regions Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month.
Russian officials have in recent weeks reportedly warned civilians to leave Kherson, amid what they say are preparations for a Ukrainian offensive against the city, the only regional capital that Russia has captured since invading Ukraine on February 24.
Source: Daily Maverick, Reuters, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, image from Twitter: @slavamakarov