Crimea Growing Darker as Drones Target Power Grid, Satellite Images Show

Several electrical substations across temporarily occupied Crimea were targeted in overnight drone strikes on July 5, triggering power outages in multiple districts of the peninsula, according to Ukrainian monitoring groups, satellite fire detection data, and Russian occupation authorities.

According to monitoring project Exilenova+ and NASA’s FIRMS satellite fire monitoring system, thermal anomalies consistent with fires were detected at approximately 3:30 a.m. local time at two electrical substations in temporarily occupied Crimea.

One of the affected sites was the 220 kV Bakhchysarai substation, a major electricity distribution hub supplying the Bakhchysarai district and connected to transmission lines linking Simferopol and Sevastopol. NASA’s satellite data recorded a heat signature at the facility shortly after drone alerts were issued across Crimea.

A second fire was detected at the Zymyne 35/10 kV substation in the Rozdolne district. The facility distributes electricity to several nearby settlements in northwestern Crimea.

The monitoring group Crimean Wind later reported that a third substation near the village of Slovianske was also attacked during the night.

According to eyewitness accounts published by the channel, another strike was reported near Kacha, north of Sevastopol, after which electricity was lost in several settlements in both the Bakhchysarai district and the Sevastopol area.

Russian-installed authorities acknowledged power disruptions but described them as a “technological disturbance.” Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed it intercepted 71 Ukrainian drones over Crimea, the Black Sea, and Russian territory overnight.

The latest strikes come days after widespread power outages affected parts of Crimea following earlier attacks on energy infrastructure. George Barros, who leads the Geospatial Intelligence Team at the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), said satellite observations of nighttime illumination indicate a noticeable decline in electricity availability across the peninsula.

“Observed nighttime lights July 2025 versus July 2026,” Barros wrote on X while sharing comparative NASA satellite imagery showing reduced nighttime illumination in occupied Crimea.

The attacks also follow a series of recent Ukrainian operations against Russian military infrastructure in Crimea.

On July 4, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) released footage showing the destruction of a Russian MiG-29 fighter jet during a drone strike on Belbek Air Base carried out on the night of June 25–26. One day earlier, satellite imagery indicated fires at the Kerch ferry terminal, an airfield near Dzhankoi, and electrical infrastructure elsewhere on the occupied peninsula.

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