ISTANBUL

Ukraine and Moldova on Saturday reported major power outages, including in their respective capitals, as the former battles a state of emergency in its energy sector amid severe winter weather.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a statement on Telegram that a “technological disruption” occurred, resulting in the shutdown of the 750 kV power line between Ukraine’s western and central regions and the 400 kV line between the power systems of Romania and Moldova.

Indicating that the failure occurred at 10:42 am local time (0842GMT), Shmyhal said this caused a “cascade of disconnections” in Ukraine’s power grid and the activation of “automatic protections” at substations.

“All necessary response measures at the level of Ukraine’s energy system are in place, and restoration work is ongoing. The task now is to stabilize the situation as soon as possible,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on US social media company X, after receiving reports from Shmyhal and Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on the situation.

The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said in an earlier statement that emergency power outages have been applied in the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Kharkiv regions on the instructions of the country’s power grid operator Ukrenergo.

“According to experts' forecasts, power supply will be restored within the next two to three hours,” it added.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian private energy provider DTEK also declared the implementation of emergency power outages in the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions on Ukrenergo’s instructions.

Kylv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed emergency power outages in the Ukrainian capital, saying the city’s metro has stopped operations “due to low voltage in the network” and that underground metro stations can currently operate as shelters.

In neighboring Moldova, the country’s Energy Ministry said on Telegram that a drop in voltage has taken place on the 400 kV Isaccea-Vulcanesti-MGRES line on Saturday morning, causing a “damaged disconnection” of the country’s power system.

Citing “serious problems in the Ukrainian power grid” as the reason for the disconnection, the ministry said power transmission system operator Moldelectrica is working to remedy the situation, adding that voltage has already restored in some localities.

Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban said that power outages have occurred in most of the Moldovan capital.

The outages come as Ukraine faces a state of emergency declared in its energy sector earlier this month due to extreme weather and Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center said temperatures in the Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, and Kharkiv regions are expected to fall to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) on Feb. 1-3.