Occupied Crimea hit by mass blackout after attack on key Taman substation in Russia

A sweeping blackout hit Russian-occupied Crimea overnight into Saturday, 24 October, after an attack on a key electrical substation in southern Russia, The Kyiv Independent reported, citing Telegram monitoring channels and satellite data.

What happened

NASA FIRMS satellite imagery indicated that the Taman substation in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, which carries power across the Kerch Strait to the peninsula, was damaged. Sevastopol and Yalta were among the cities left without electricity, and the watchdog NetBlocks reported widespread internet outages. Sevastopol’s Russian-installed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev blamed “an enemy attack on energy infrastructure”; Moscow-backed Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov said restrictions on electricity and water had been imposed, the BBC reported.

Unverified extent

Local authorities later said power had returned in several cities, but residents reported renewed outages in Simferopol, Yalta and Alushta. Ukraine has not commented on the attack, and the full extent of the damage could not be independently verified. Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that its air defences had shot down 616 Ukrainian drones.