You're reading: Crimea blackout triggers fears of Russian backlash

Two days into the electricity blackout in Crimea, human rights activists on the peninsula warned that some hospitals were being affected, while Ukrainian authorities predicted a fierce backlash from Russia.


Meanwhile, Russian-installed leaders on the peninsula warned residents
that the blackout would last for another month.

More than 1 million people on the occupied peninsula were left without
power on Nov. 21 after electricity towers supplying electricity from Ukraine
were blown up in the Kherson Oblast, north of Crimea. Activists taking part in
the blockade of Crimea were thought to be behind the stunt, though no one has
claimed responsibility yet.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Nov. 23 seemed to implicitly express
support for the blockade, calling for an official ban on goods being
transported from Ukraine into Crimea.
Ordering members of Cabinet to prepare corresponding legislation that
would specify which goods can be brought into Crimea and which are banned,
Yatsenyuk also called for engaging the Crimean Tatar community in the work “so
that our decision will take into account” the needs of that community, a
statement on the Cabinet’s website said.

UkrEnergo, Ukraine’s state-owned monopoly electricity transmitter,
promised on Nov. 22 to at least partly restore power within 24 hours if its
repair workers were given access to the downed lines. But Mustafa Dzhemiliev,
the speaker of the Crimean Tatars’
Mejlis and one of the initiators of the blockade of Crimea that began in late
September, promised to provide only partial access – to the lines that provide
power to Ukraine.

“Now we will partially allow
specialists to clear (the area) and conduct repairs. There is one power line
there, which, passing by Crimea, leads to areas in Kherson Oblast. They are
without power there as well, it turns out. We will let them restore that line.
…” Dzhemiliev said on Nov. 23, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Police have opened a criminal case against those behind the explosions
on the charge of deliberately damaging power facilities, as well as two cases
against activists for allegedly assaulting police officers.

While a state of emergency was officially declared on the peninsula by
Russian occupying authorities, the Kremlin offered an unusually calm statement
on the matter, with presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noting that “emergency
situations happen,” and adding that the Russian emergency services should be
able to respond adequately.

Not everyone was ready to believe that the Kremlin would take the
blackout lying down, however.

Ilya Kiva, the head of the Interior Ministry’s department for countering
drug-related crimes, told journalists on Nov. 23 in Kherson Oblast that Russian
tanks had approached the front line with Ukraine after the incident with the
electricity towers.

“That is why in the given situation we are trying to be prepared. … We
know that Russian forces have already gotten tanks ready – about 12 tanks went
right up to the contact line, and that is one of the possible ways in which
events will develop – so we don’t want them to see the energy blockade as a
reason for the deployment, for the movement of Russian forces into Ukraine,”
Kiva said in comments to Ukrainian television channel 112 Ukraina.

Ukraine’s Border Guard Service issued a statement in response to Kiva’s
warning, saying they had observed no build-up of Russian troops on the border.

Some expressed concerns that Russia may retaliate for
the blackout in other ways.

Oleksiy Skrypnyk, a lawmaker from the Samopomich
party, said the blackout could have a boomerang effect.

“If Russia cuts us off from the parallel part of their
electrical system, at a minimum, this would lead to rolling blackouts. The
result of that would be worse than (what is happening) in Crimea,” Skrypnyk
wrote on his Facebook page.

Residents of Kherson Oblast were alarmed by the fact
that activists apparently blew up the electrical towers.

“Blowing up electrical towers is equal to throwing
lawmakers in garbage cans. It’s extremism,” said Andriy Malchenko, a Kherson
resident. “If Ukraine wanted to cut off Crimea, it could do it. But not this
way.”

Sergey Askyonov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Crimea,
on Nov. 23 warned residents to be prepared for the worst in comments to RIA
Novosti.

“Unfortunately, we must inform our residents that,
most likely, this period will stretch on for a while,” he said. “We believe
that we must prepare for the worst, that this period will drag on until the
first line of the power bridge from Kerch is ready, meaning Dec. 22.”

While the peninsula has been relying on generators to
pick up the slack over the last several days, it is not clear how long those
will last.

The group Human Rights in Crimea issued a statement late on Nov. 22
saying certain hospitals on the peninsula were already suffering from the
blackout, with many hospitals only able to provide power to the emergency rooms
and operating rooms, “while the remaining departments are functioning depending
on unstable electrical connections.”

Staff writer Allison
Quinn can be reached at
[email protected]. Staff writer Oksana Grytsenko contributed
to this report.