Parts of Ukraine and Moldova suffered power cuts on Saturday after high-voltage power lines failed while both countries were affected by sub-zero temperatures.
Kyiv and Chisinau, the capital cities, were among the areas affected by the power outage after lines malfunctioned at 10.42am local time.
Ukraine‘s power grid has been severely compromised by Russian airstrikes during its nearly four-year war with Moscow, leading to severe restrictions on electricity supplies in recent weeks.
Officials in Kyiv did not directly link the accident to war damage, and Ukraine’s digital ministry said it was not caused by a cyber attack.
Moscow has agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure until 1 February at the request of US President Donald Trump.
Kyiv said it would reciprocate, and the countries have not reported any major attacks.
People playing on the frozen Dnipro river in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday he and other US officials had held “productive and constructive meetings” with his Russian counterpart, Kirill Dmitriev, as Washington strives to find “a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict”.
In a post on X, Mr Witkoff said the talks in Florida show “Russia is working toward securing peace”.
The outages come as people in both countries face severe winter weather, with temperatures in Kyiv forecast to fall to -11C (12F) on Saturday, before plunging as low as -17C (1F) before Wednesday, according to the UK Met Office.
Temperatures in some areas will drop as low as -30C (-22F) early next week, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.
Moldova is also having a weekend cold snap, as -7C (19F) on Saturday drops as low as -10C (14F) on Monday.
As well as the two countries’ capitals, at least five Ukrainian regions, including Zhytomyr in the centre of the country and Kharkiv in the northeast, as well as parts of Moldova, were affected by the blackouts.
An outdoor party to warm up and collect donations for the Ukrainian armed forces in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
The metro in Kyiv suspended operations, and water supplies in the city were cut.
Traffic lights and some public transport in Chisinau were not working, according to the city mayor, and most districts did not have electricity.
A mobile phone shop stays open in Kharkiv during the blackout. Pic: Reuters
Power was partially restored in both countries early on Saturday afternoon as workers hurried to stabilise interconnected grids.
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Supplies will be back to where they were by evening, said Oleksandr Kharchenko, the director of Kyiv’s independent Energy Research Centre.
A technical malfunction led to two high-voltage power lines causing “a cascading outage in Ukraine’s power grid”, Ukraine’s energy minister Denys Shmyhal said.
One of the lines linked the grids of Romania and Moldova, while the other connected western and central Ukraine, he said.
Moldova’s energy ministry said the disruption there was triggered by serious problems in Ukraine’s grid that led to a voltage drop on the line connecting Romania and Moldova.
Romanian energy officials have not commented.
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