Ukraine Reportedly Strikes Crimea Power Plant Built With Sanctioned Siemens Turbines

Russia-installed authorities in occupied Sevastopol introduced emergency electricity restrictions after a reported strike damaged the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant, one of the two largest power stations in temporarily occupied Crimea equipped with Siemens gas turbines that were delivered to the peninsula despite EU sanctions.

Local Telegram channel Krymskyi Veter cited residents who reported a direct hit on the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant during an overnight drone attack.

According to eyewitness accounts published by the channel, the strike damaged the station’s main building, leaving large dents on one side of the structure, deforming the opposite wall, and shattering windows. The reports have not been independently verified.

Russia-installed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev confirmed that the city had come under a “large-scale attack” targeting energy infrastructure but did not identify the affected facility. He said specialists were assessing the damage and that emergency services had been placed on high alert.

Following the attack, authorities imposed rolling blackouts across parts of Sevastopol, introducing a temporary schedule of two hours with electricity followed by six hours without power due to what officials described as limited capacity within the city’s energy system.

Razvozhayev said engineers were attempting to reconfigure the grid and use available reserve capacity to reduce outage times later in the day.

The Balaklava Thermal Power Plant has an installed capacity of approximately 497 MW and, together with the Tavricheskaya Thermal Power Plant near Simferopol, forms the backbone of occupied Crimea’s power generation.

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Russia began constructing both facilities after occupying the peninsula in 2014 to reduce its dependence on electricity supplied from mainland Ukraine.

The station became the focus of an international sanctions dispute after four Siemens gas turbines, originally intended for a power plant in Russia’s Taman region, were transferred to temporarily occupied Crimea despite European Union restrictions.

Siemens said it had been misled about the turbines' final destination and unsuccessfully sought their return through Russian courts. The incident prompted the European Union to impose additional sanctions on companies and individuals involved in the transfer. Both the Balaklava and Tavricheskaya power plants continue to operate using those turbines.

The reported strike comes days after the ATESH partisan movement claimed Russian authorities had begun dismantling transformers from idle pumping stations along the North Crimean Canal to replace equipment damaged in previous Ukrainian strikes on temporarily occupied Crimea’s energy infrastructure.

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