Russian-Occupied Crimea Goes Dark After Drone Strikes Hit Power Infrastructure

Large parts of temporarily occupied Crimea lost electricity overnight on October 24 following drone attacks on energy infrastructure, with a major Russian power substation supplying the peninsula reportedly among the targets.

According to the OSINT monitoring channel Exilenova+ on October 24, the outages may have been linked to a strike on the 500/220 kV Taman electrical substation in Russia’s Krasnodar region, a key facility connecting Crimea to the Russian power grid.

NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) detected a thermal anomaly at the substation following the reported attack, suggesting a possible fire at the facility. The extent of any damage has not been independently confirmed.

Electricity outages were reported across several major cities in temporarily occupied Crimea, including Sevastopol, Simferopol, Yalta, Feodosia, Dzhankoi, Alushta, and Yevpatoria.

Residents also reported at least four explosions in Crimea’s Pervomaiske district, while Russian air defense systems were reportedly operating near Kerch. Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, confirmed that the city had lost electricity following damage to energy infrastructure outside its boundaries.

The outages coincided with a sharp decline in internet connectivity across Crimea. According to preliminary monitoring data from NetBlocks, internet traffic on the peninsula dropped to nearly zero during the disruption.

The Taman substation is a major 500 kV transmission hub through which all four power lines of Russia’s energy bridge across the Kerch Strait pass. Damage to the facility could disrupt electricity transfers to Crimea, potentially affecting civilian infrastructure, industrial operations, and Russian military installations.

Earlier, on August 13, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces struck 29 energy facilities across temporarily occupied territories, including Crimea, as part of the “Crimean Switch Off” operation. The campaign aims to disrupt electricity supplies to Russian military infrastructure, including air defense systems and radar installations.

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