Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Dark Crimea

From the BBC:
"Crimea power blackout hits economy as workers stay home"
 
Only essential services and government offices are operating in Crimea after key electricity pylons connected to the peninsula were knocked down in Ukraine, causing a major blackout. Most of Crimea's two million people have been hit by the power cut. There are also some water shortages.  Anti-Russian activists were blamed for the cut. Russian forces annexed Crimea in March 2014, during Ukraine's crisis. Public transport is still running and Crimean hospitals are using generators.  A state of emergency was imposed in Crimea on Sunday after two more key pylons were damaged - bringing the total to four. Monday was declared a non-working day. It is still not clear how exactly the pylons were damaged in Kherson, a Ukrainian region adjacent to Crimea. That region has been tense since Russia's annexation of Crimea - an act that was condemned internationally. Crimean Tatar activists, denying repair workers access to the damaged power lines, suggested that the weakened pylons were blown down by the wind. But Ukraine's state energy company, Ukrenergo, said the damage was caused by "shelling or the use of explosive devices".   Russia has blamed Ukrainian nationalists from far-right party Right Sector as well as Crimean Tatar activists, calling it "an act of terrorism". The blackout has knocked out street lighting and cut cable and mobile internet. It has also forced the closure of some 150 schools. Crimean Tatar activists accuse Russia of abusing Tatar rights and denying them a voice since a pro-Moscow government was installed in Crimea. Only 30% of Crimea's electricity is generated locally - the rest comes from Ukraine, Russia's government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported.
  
 
^ If the  Crimea is part of Russia (according only to Russia) then they should get their own power. You can't expect the Ukraine (which is fighting ethnic Russian terrorists being supplied men and weapons  from Russia in eastern Ukraine) to supply the Russian-annexed Crimea. Russia says this was an act of terrorism, but if it was dome by the Tartars then it is an act of resistance the same way Soviet partisans fought the Nazis during World War 2. You can't invade, occupy and annex a territory and expect the local people to just give-up willingly. ^


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34899484
 

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