MOSCOW — Ukraine cut off electricity and train/bus services to Crimea on Friday, moves that could raise tensions with Russia, which annexed the peninsula in March and has been prodding Kiev to negotiate with Moscow-backed rebels in the country’s eastern provinces.
The power cutoff is the second this week by Ukraine, which says it has electricity shortages of its own because rebels have halted shipments of coal to its power plants. The cutoff in railway services, however, could indicate Ukraine is stepping up its pressure of the peninsula.
Ukraine’s state rail company Ukrzaliznytsia on Friday said it would stop passenger and cargo train services to Crimea “in order to insure the safety of passengers.” The move will affect both Ukrainian and foreign trains traveling to the peninsula, the company said. It didn’t indicate when services would resume.
Cutting supplies to Crimea may be a lever of influence for Kiev, since the matter has become a headache for Moscow after it annexed the territory in March. Crimea has no overland connection to Russia and has traditionally relied on a land bridge to Ukraine for essentials such as food, power and water.
Kiev closed an irrigation canal into Crimea in April that had supplied 85% of its water. The Ukrainian power company, Ukrintenergo, which supplies about 80% of Crimea’s electricity, has shut down service intermittently in recent months, saying that the peninsula was using more than its agreed-upon allotment.
Crimea’s Fuel and Energy Minister Sergei Egorov told Russia’s Interfax news agency that power was cut off at 1:50 p.m. Friday without warning. He said backup diesel generators and mobile turbine power plants were supplying critical infrastructure with electricity.
Mobile phone service on the peninsula was also suffering disruptions, Interfax reported.
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