UKRAINE HIT BY BLACKOUT
A major breakdown in Ukraine's power system has caused electricity to be cut off across large parts of the country.
Source: sources at one energy company and in the Cabinet of Ministers (Ukraine's government), cited by Ekonomichna Pravda; Moldova's Ministry of Energy; Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal; Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X (Twitter); Ukraine's State Customs Service; Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation; DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, reporting on the situation in Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv and Odesa oblasts
Details: The causes of the blackout are not yet known. Ekonomichna Pravda has approached the press service of Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state-owned electricity transmission operator, for comment.
12:10 Experts said the electricity supply will be restored within the next two to three hours.
12:25 Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that a technical breakdown occurred at 10:42 on 31 January with the simultaneous disconnection of the 400kV line between the power systems of Romania and Moldova and the 750kV line between the western and central part of Ukraine.
Quote from Shmyhal: "This caused a cascading shutdown in Ukraine's electricity network and the activation of automatic protection systems at substations. Power output was temporarily reduced at the nuclear power plant reactors. The dispatching company introduced special emergency outage schedules in the city of Kyiv and in Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Kharkiv oblasts."
12:21 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has been briefed by Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal on the emergency situation in Ukraine's power system due to technical reasons on the lines between Ukraine and Moldova. All necessary response measures at the level of Ukraine's energy system are in place and repair work is ongoing. Zelenskyy added that the main task is to stabilise the situation as soon as possible.
12:40 The situation caused by the loss of external power to the railways has been stabilised.
13:00 The Kyiv city rail service operated by Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways), which, along with the metro, had suspended operations on Saturday, has resumed.
13:15 Moldova's Ministry of Energy reported that the voltage dropped on the Isaccea-Vulcăneşti-MGRES high-voltage line due to the serious problems in Ukraine's power system.
13:28 Ukraine's State Customs Service has reported that vehicles and goods are temporarily not being allowed through border crossing points with Moldova because the Moldovan customs authorities' central databases are down.
13:37 Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation said a cyberattack was not the cause of the major breakdown in Ukraine's power system that has left large parts of the country without electricity.
14:01 Emergency outages are still being applied in the city of Kyiv as well as Kyiv, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr and Kharkiv oblasts.
14:20 The power supply to critical infrastructure facilities has been restored in the city of Kyiv as well as Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, Shmyhal said.
14:46 Major boiler houses, the municipal water utility and electric-powered public transport in the city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast have been left without power due to the major breakdown in the power system that left large parts of Ukraine without electricity.
16:15 DTEK reported that emergency outages in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast have been cancelled.
17:12 Power engineers have stabilised the situation and rolling outages have been introduced in parts of Odesa Oblast.
17:40 Power engineers have stabilised the situation in Kyiv Oblast but emergency outages continue in the city of Kyiv.
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