Mass power outages swept across Ukraine on Saturday after a “technical malfunction” knocked out high-voltage lines linking Moldova and Romania with Ukraine, disrupting water supplies in Kyiv and forcing a complete shutdown of the capital’s metro, officials said.
“Today at 10:42 am (0842 GMT), a technical malfunction occurred, causing a simultaneous shutdown of the 400-kilovolt line between the power grids of Romania and Moldova and the 750-kilovolt line between western and central Ukraine,” Ukraine’s energy minister Denys Shmygal said on Telegram.
- Advertisement -
Shmygal said crews were working to restore electricity and urged calm as engineers rebalance a grid already strained by wartime damage. “Power will be restored within the next few hours,” he said. “The task is to stabilise the situation soon.”
The failure rippled through Kyiv, where authorities reported that water supplies were temporarily knocked out and transport ground to a halt as the metro network suspended operations. The city’s subway system, which carries around 800,000 passengers on a typical day according to data published last year, will remain open as a shelter until power comes back, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. The metro’s 52 stations double as bomb shelters during Russian attacks.
Saturday’s breakdown adds further pressure to Ukraine’s fragile energy system after weeks of intense Russian strikes. Moscow has targeted power stations and transmission infrastructure throughout its nearly four-year invasion, and Kyiv says this winter has been the toughest yet, with attacks cutting electricity and heat to millions of people amid sub-zero temperatures.
While officials did not immediately detail the cause of the malfunction, the simultaneous loss of a 400-kilovolt interconnection between Romania and Moldova and a 750-kilovolt line inside Ukraine triggered cascading outages. The high-voltage corridors are critical arteries for balancing load and moving electricity across regions, and their abrupt shutdown can force system operators to take protective measures that interrupt service.
Ukrainian authorities did not provide a precise timetable for full restoration but said engineers were prioritizing essential services and transport links as they worked to stabilize voltage and reconnect affected areas. Residents were urged to conserve power where available to ease the strain on the grid during the recovery.
The outage underscored the vulnerability of Ukraine’s energy network in wartime and the knock-on effects for daily life in the capital, from household taps to rush-hour commutes. As repairs proceed, Kyiv’s metro stations—long a refuge in times of air raid alerts—again serve a dual purpose: shelter and waiting room until the lights return.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
