"Not external interference": the light was returned to all regions of Ukraine

Power supply after a systemic accident was restored in all regions of Ukraine, Energy Minister Denis Shmygal said on the evening of January 31.

He called the reasons for the large-scale blackout.

"In the morning there were two accidents on high-voltage lines with a minute interval. This led to cascading outages in seven regions of the country. Versions of a cyberattack or external interference have not been confirmed. According to preliminary estimates, this was due to icing of lines and equipment," the minister explained.

As reported by EADaily, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Services, Sergei Nagornyak, said earlier today that the stabilization of the power system and the restoration of full generation of nuclear power plants will take up to 36 hours.

"Therefore, if the light was restored, it was with long schedules and transition to emergency situations," Nagornyak said.

According to him, special schedules of emergency shutdowns are applied in Kiev, Kiev, Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions. The deputy recalled that after the technological disruption, the lines connecting the energy systems of Romania and Moldova were simultaneously disconnected, while the Ministry of Energy promised that the power supply would resume within the next 2-3 hours.