Ukraine’s power grid experienced mass outages for several hours on Saturday after a “technical malfunction” caused electrical lines between Moldova, Romania and Ukraine to fail, Ukraine’s energy minister said.
By Saturday evening, the power companies had restored power to all regions of Kyiv, Ukrainian Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal said.
Kyiv’s metro system had completely suspended operations during the power cut, paralyzing transport for thousands. The emergency services helped evacuate almost 500 passengers stranded in the network when the power went down.
Photo: AP
It was the first time that has happened since the 2022 start of the war with Russia. The network resumed operations after several hours.
Shmyhal said that a “technical malfunction” caused “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” had caused the shutdown.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the incident an “emergency,” adding in his evening address that “the causes are being investigated in detail.”
“As of now, there is no evidence of external interference or cyberattacks. More data indicates that weather conditions caused the lines to freeze, resulting in automatic shutdowns,” he said.
Most of the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, was temporarily without power, although it was largely back online by 3:40pm, according to the Moldovan Ministry of Energy.
Moldova produces its own power, but also imports some, mainly from Romania, as well as Ukraine.
The site of Ukraine’s former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which still requires electricity, particularly to keep its cooling and control systems operating, experienced a brief power outage, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported.
“No direct impact on nuclear safety expected, but overall situation remains precarious,” the IAEA wrote on social media.
The incident piles further pressure on Ukraine’s energy grid, which was already in a fragile state due to weeks of intense Russian bombardment.
Russia has targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure throughout its nearly four-year invasion, but Kyiv says this winter has been the toughest yet, with attacks cutting power and heating to millions during sub-zero temperatures.
The Kremlin, which has bombarded Ukraine’s energy grid for weeks, on Friday said it was refraining from attacks on Kyiv until yesterday following an appeal from US President Donald Trump.
About 800,000 passengers use the Kyiv metro system daily, according to data published last year.
Residents also use its 52 stations as bomb shelters during Russian attacks.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai (黎智英) has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s (DW) freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. The German public broadcaster on Thursday said Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on June 23 at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn. Deutsche Welle director-general Barbara Massing praised the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered news outlet Apple Daily for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk.” “With Apple Daily, he gave journalists a platform for free reporting and a voice to the democracy movement in
PHILIPPINE COMMITTEE: The head of the committee that made the decision said: ‘If there is nothing to hide, there is no reason to hide, there is no reason to obstruct’ A Philippine congressional committee on Wednesday ruled that there was “probable cause” to impeach Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte after hearing allegations of unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and threats to have the president assassinated. The unanimous decision of the 53-member committee in the Philippine House of Representatives sends the two impeachment complaints to deliberations and voting by the entire lower chamber, which has more than 300 lawmakers. The complaints centered on Duterte’s alleged illegal use and mishandling of intelligence funds from the vice president’s office, and from her time as education secretary under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Duterte and the
Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing yesterday cut all prisoners’ sentences by one-sixth, a blanket measure that a source close to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi said would further shorten her detention. Aung San Suu Kyi has been sequestered since a 2021 military coup, but the senior member of her dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) party said that while her term had been reduced, her remaining sentence is still unclear. “We also don’t know exactly how many years she has left,” the source told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government
RSS