Cascading blackouts in Ukraine. Cause: “technical faults” on the lines connecting the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine

The Ukrainian electricity network suffered massive power outages on Saturday due to a “technical fault” on the lines connecting the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, announced the Ukrainian Minister of Energy, Denis Shmihal, according to AFP.

“Today, around 10:42 local time, a technical failure occurred, which led to the simultaneous interruption of the 400 kilovolt line that connects the electrical networks of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, as well as the 750 kilovolt line that connects the west and the center of Ukraine,” indicated Minister Denis Şmîhal in a post on Telegram.

“This caused a cascade of blackouts in the Ukrainian electrical network and triggered automatic protection mechanisms in the substations,” he added, without elaborating on the origin of this technical failure.

The minister specified that emergency power cuts were instituted in the city of Kiev, in the region of the Ukrainian capital, as well as in the regions of Zhytomyr (center) and Kharkiv (northeast).

“The electricity supply will be restored in the next few hours”, assured Şmîhal.

The Kiev metro was closed

Earlier, in a rare occurrence since the start of a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, Ukrainian authorities announced the temporary closure of the Kiev metro due to power shortages.

“Due to an interruption in the supply of electricity from external supply centers, the movement of trains and the operation of escalators were suspended in the metro,” explained the operator of Kiev Metro in a message posted on Facebook.

The network will serve as a shelter until the electricity is restored, indicated the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, in a message on Telegram.

The Kiev Metro is a vital transport artery for the Ukrainian capital and rarely interrupts its operations, even during intense Russian bombing.

Approximately 800,000 passengers use the metro daily, according to last year's data. Residents of Kiev in particular use its 52 stations as air raid shelters during Russian attacks.

Ukraine's power grid has been one of the main targets of Russian airstrikes in recent months, and consumers have been facing significant power cuts for weeks.

Russia has targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure since the start of its invasion nearly four years ago, but Kiev says this winter has been its worst yet, with attacks leaving millions without electricity and heat in freezing conditions.

The Kremlin announced on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to cease attacks on Kiev by Sunday, following a request from his American counterpart Donald Trump.

Massive power outage in the Republic of Moldova

And the energy system of the Republic of Moldova was seriously affected on Saturday by a power outage caused by problems in the energy network of Ukraine. Pana left the Moldovan capital and other regions of the country without electricity, the Chisinau authorities announced.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Energy of Moldova, published on Telegram, disruptions in the Ukrainian network caused a drop in voltage on one of the supply lines to Moldova.

Mayor Ion Ceban stated on Telegram that most of the sectors in Chisinau were left without power, and the authorities specified that even the traffic lights are not working.