Collapse in the North of Crimea: Cities without electricity and water, shutdown of plants and protests of residents

In the north of the Crimean peninsula annexed by the Russian Federation, after a series of strikes by the Ukrainian Defense Forces on energy facilities, there has been no electricity supply for more than a week, in a number of settlements water is not supplied at all or is supplied on schedule, there is a shortage of products, enterprises and shops are closed. Local residents consider the situation close to a humanitarian catastrophe. Crime.Realii is investigating what is happening. 

Collapse of the power system of the North of Crimea 

In the northern part of the Crimean peninsula, there are several large substations through which Crimea is connected to the occupied territories of the Kherson region. These are the 330 kV Soda substation and the 220 kV Krasnoperekopsk substation in Krasnoperekopsk, the 220 kV Titan substation in Armyansk and the 330 kV Ostrovskaya substation in Dzhankoy. 

There are also 110 kV substations, through which electricity is supplied to individual areas, and 35 kV for powering small towns and villages. 

The destruction of the main substations, along with 110 and 35 kV substations, can disable the power system of the entire region, which happened in the north of Crimea. This part of the annexed peninsula also suffered an energy collapse, as a number of large and not so large substations in the neighboring occupied territories of the Kherson region were also damaged. 

Thus, on the night of June 13, the 220 kV Titan substation in Armyansk was attacked, causing a fire. The commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for unmanned systems, Robert Brovdi (call sign "Hungarian"), published a video with the results of the damage on his Telegram channel. 

Also, on the night of June 13, another powerful electrical substation in the north of Crimea was attacked - in Krasnoperekopsk. A fire broke out at the 220/35/10 kV Krasnoperekopsk substation, the Crimean Wind telegram channel reported. 

On June 29, the commander of the Brovdi DGS reported on the attacks on Crimea over the past few days. Among the targets hit in northern Crimea were the 110 kV Vipasne substation in the Dzhankoy district and the 330 kV Dzhankoy substation in Dzhankoy. 

The 110 kV Vipasne substation was attacked again on July 3. 

On July 5, the Ukrainian State Broadcasting Service released a video of attacks on substations in Crimea, including the 110 kV Traktova substation in the village of Traktovo, Krasnoperekopsk district, and the 35 kV Yani Kapu substation in Krasnoperekopsk. 

“It can be noted that the 330 kV, 220 kV, 110 kV and 35 kV substations were attacked, which are connections at different levels of the same power system. The 330 kV voltage is used to transmit energy over long distances. The 220 kV substations transmit electricity between regions and large industrial centers. The 110 kV voltage supplies large cities and factories. The 35 kV voltage distributes energy between districts and settlements,” a Simferopol-based activist of the international Crimea liberation movement #LIBERATECRIMEA, who works in the energy sector, previously told Crimea.Realii on condition of anonymity. 

In addition to the substations in the north of Crimea, dozens of the same facilities were affected in other areas of the peninsula, but only in the Krasnoperekopsk and Dzhankoysk districts did this actually lead to an energy collapse and related problems. The reason, as noted above, is the specifics of the electricity supply scheme in this region, as well as the lack of its own generation capacities. 

No electricity and water 

Serious problems with the supply of electricity to settlements in the north of Crimea began in early July. 

Armyansk could be without electricity for a day due to an attack on the main power grid, the head of the Russian government of Crimea, Yuri Gochanyuk, reported on July 1. The official also noted that a "three in three" electricity supply schedule was being introduced in 17 districts and settlements, in particular in the Krasnoperekopsky district. 

The next day, July 2, electricity went out in the north and north-west of Crimea, Yuri Gochanyuk and the Krimenergo company reported. According to the head of the Russian government of Crimea, there was no electricity in the districts of Armyansk, Krasnoperekopsk, Dzhankoy and Dzhankoysky, Yevpatoriya and the city district, Chernomorsky and Saksky districts. The electricity supply is planned to be restored in a day. 

In Armyansk and surrounding settlements, water supply was limited to a few hours a day, the press service of the Russian company "Water of Crimea" reported. 

According to the report, due to the "unstable situation with electricity supply" in Armyansk and surrounding villages on July 3 and 4, the following water supply schedule was introduced: 

July 3, Armyansk - from 16:00 to 22:00; 

July 4, surrounding villages - from 18:00 to 22:00. 

On July 3, water supply was limited to six hours a day in Dzhankoy due to problems with the power supply, the head of the Russian-controlled city administration Igor Ivin reported. 

“Due to the temporary restriction of the power supply, according to the State Unitary Enterprise of the Republic of Crimea “Water of Crimea”, water supply in the city will be carried out according to the following schedule: morning – from 06:00 to 09:00; evening – from 18:00 to 21:00,” Ivin wrote. He urged residents of the city to stock up on water for at least three days. 

A similar schedule was previously introduced in Dzhankoy on June 29, also due to a power outage. 

On July 5, the Telegram channel Crimean Wind wrote that Krasnoperekopsk was without power. 

“There is literally no power in Krasnoperekopsk, they gave it for two hours after a day and a half of absence. Water is available for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, the subscriber reports,” the message said. 

In Crimea, the Dzhankoy, Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, Dzhankoysky and Krasnoperekopsky districts remained without electricity on July 8, the Russian company Krimenergo reported. In addition, there was no electricity supply in the neighboring Nizhnygorsk and Pervomaysky districts. 

On July 8, the administration of the public "ČS KiYM Krasnoperekopsk - Armyansk" on the social network "Vkontakte" indicated that the city had been without electricity for more than 80 hours. 

On July 11, power and water outages continued. According to the Russian "Krimenergo", the Dzhankoy, Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, Dzhankoysky, Krasnoperekopsky, Nizhnygorsk and Chornomorsky districts remain without power. 

In addition, on July 11, water supply was limited in a number of settlements in Crimea. The Russian state-owned company "Voda Krym" announced that due to urgent repairs to the networks of "Krymenerga" water will be temporarily not supplied to Yevpatoriya, Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, Saky, the village of Rozdolnoye, as well as Krasnogvardeysky, Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnoperekopsk and Rozdolnensky districts (partially). On July 12, Armyansk, Krasnoperekopsk and the district were left without water, the company "Voda Krym" reported. 

General crisis and protests 

In addition to the energy and water crises, a general crisis has also matured in the north of Crimea - a situation on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. This has been influenced by the lack of fuel in this region, as well as in the rest of Crimea, after the Ukrainian Defense Forces took control of the so-called "land corridor" from Rostov in Russia to Dzhankoy. 

Dzhankoy and Dzhankoysky districts have been without electricity for the seventh day, Refat Chubarov, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, wrote on Facebook on July 12. 

According to Chubarov, "for many villagers, imported drinking water has become practically unavailable due to skyrocketing prices, caused by the equally skyrocketing cost of fuel. In addition, there is a catastrophic shortage of fuel". 

A similar situation, the head of the Mejlis noted, is observed in other steppe regions of Crimea. 

As local residents say on public forums, many grocery stores in the north of Crimea are closing due to the inability to store perishable goods and problems with delivery. Refrigerators are out of order, and there is no fuel for generators. 

The lack of the Internet is particularly affecting trade - payment terminals are not working, and problems with cash have already begun, as some ATMs are out of order. 

Crimean residents are trying to solve a number of problems on their own. For example, in the chat of the village of Izumrudne, Dzhankoy district, on July 5, a message was posted about collecting funds for diesel fuel for a generator at a well. “We all use water, and therefore we all have to pay,” the message reads. 

Mobile communications and the Internet are out of order more often than they are working, which practically cuts off this region from the rest of the world in terms of information. The same situation is with home Internet. For these reasons, even some information pages of Russian local authorities have stopped updating. 

For example, the last message on the official website of the Russian administration of the city of Armyansk was posted on July 3. 

The Russian authorities are trying to provide assistance to the population, but this is mainly of an organizational nature. 

For example, the Russian administration of the Krasnoperekopsk district publishes on its page on the social network Vkontakte lists of “help points” created in villages where you can recharge mobile phones. A list of pharmacies that have cashless payment terminals. A list of ATMs where you can withdraw cash. 

And, for example, on the Telegram channel of the head of the Russian administration of Dzhankoy, Igor Ivin, messages are published daily in July, but only one post was dedicated to the critical situation in the city at that time - the water supply schedule in the city was announced. 

Due to the lack of electricity, one of the largest enterprises in the region stopped working. “The Krasnoperekopsk soda factory dismissed workers “on vacation” with 1/3 of the salary,” “Krymsky Veter” writes on July 12, referring to information from subscribers. 

“Panic and shock reign in Krasnoperekopsk, because half of the city worked at the factory,” the Telegram channel reports. 

According to channel subscribers, the city has been without electricity for a week, and the electricity was only turned on for two hours during the arrival of the Russian head of Crimea, Sergey Aksenov. 

"We are reporting, we ask for your patience, etc. I am in shock, the factory on which the city depends is closed, people have been without electricity for four or five days, and who will compensate us for all this? Salaries are not paid, soon we will have nothing to live on, we bathe our children in the dark and bathe ourselves in the dark, does the author of the post know what it is like to bathe three children with candles? Carrying water to the 4th floor? You have been reporting and writing about water in your appeals for days, how much is it is possible, where there are guarantees for the population," noted a reader with the nickname "Green-eyed romantic" in the "Emergency Service of the Crimea Krasnoperekopsk - Armyansk" community on the Vkontakte social network. 

In the north of Crimea, there is another large budget-generating enterprise - the Crimean Titan factory in Armyansk. There is no publicly available data on the current situation there, but this factory cannot operate without electricity and water, which are necessary to ensure technological production processes. 

Local residents are trying in various ways to express their dissatisfaction with the actions of the Russian authorities to resolve the crisis situation in the north of Crimea. 

On July 10, Russian security forces announced the detention of a 29-year-old resident of Krasnoperekopsk, who posted on a social network calls for residents of the city to participate in a rally and protest. 

The woman explained to the police of the Center for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Crimea that she had learned about the intention of entrepreneurs to record a video appeal to the Russian head of Crimea regarding the situation in the city. According to her, she did not know that holding mass events must be coordinated in advance with local authorities, after which she recorded and posted the video on a social network. 

A report was drawn up against the woman under Article 20.2. Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (violation of the established procedure for organizing or holding a public event). The court sentenced her to 20 hours of forced labor. 

On July 12, several pro-Russian Crimean Telegram channels published an appeal from residents of northern Crimea regarding the crisis situation. 

“For a week (seven days) we have not had lights on for an hour. People are throwing away food, losing their jobs and their usual lives. There is no water in the districts, and in some parts of the city the lights are on for four hours a day,” the appeal states. 

The anonymous authors of the appeal point out that there is only one helpline in Dzhankoy where you can charge your mobile phone. They also report that the appeal was addressed to the Russian head of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, to whom the city administration announced that the problem with the electricity supply “will be resolved by mid-August”. 

On the morning of July 13, the Krimenergo company reported that the following areas were left without electricity: Dzhankoy and Dzhankoysky district, Krasnoperekopsk and Krasnoperekopsky district, and the city district of Armyansk.