VIDEO: Over Half a Million Russians Left Without Electricity

In southern Russia, more than 500,000 people have been left without electricity due to an anomalously high temperature that led to an energy collapse. According to the Ministry of Energy, the power outages have already affected over 325,000 people in the Krasnodar region and 226,000 in the Rostov region.

The ministry links the outages to a seasonal surge in consumption caused by the summer heat. Meanwhile, the authorities in the Rostov region have reported several incidents in energy infrastructure facilities. Specifically, Governor Vasily Golubev stated that an accident occurred at the Novocherkassk Power Plant. Additionally, the situation has been impacted by a planned maintenance shutdown at one of the blocks of the Rostov Nuclear Power Plant, as well as emergency repairs at the Rostov CHPP-2 and Volgodonsk CHPP-2 blocks, leading to a loss of about 1,000 MW.

According to Golubev, a power plant in the Rodionovo-Nesvetaysk region was taken offline due to a drone attack from Ukraine. “According to preliminary estimates by specialists, its restoration will take up to 3 days. Therefore, there remains a necessity to implement a regime of temporary disconnections in the region for the time being,” Golubev noted.

Power outages in the Rostov region began on July 5. At that time, part of the consumers in Bataysk and Rostov-on-Don were left without power due to technological disruptions. The day before, on July 8, Golubev reported that the most tense situation regarding outages was observed in Taganrog and the Neklinovsky district, where a power line accident occurred due to overloading.

According to the Governor, to minimize power outages in residents' homes, the authorities will partially restrict power supply to enterprises in the region, without affecting their operations. At the same time, a “floating” schedule of daily disconnections lasting 1.5 to 4 hours has been implemented for the population.

According to weather forecasts, the temperature in the Krasnodar region is expected to reach 38 degrees Celsius today, while in the Rostov region, it will be 37 degrees. No significant decrease in temperatures is anticipated in the coming days.