Russia to supply power to rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine
Published on Fri, 28 Apr 2017
AP reported that in a move that further cements Russia's control over parts of eastern Ukraine, Russian officials announced they will begin supplying electricity to separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine after the Ukrainian government cut off the power because of millions in unpaid bills.
Kremlin spokesman Mr Dmitry Peskov described the decision as a humanitarian mission - helping to keep an estimated 3 million people out of darkness - but would not say exactly when or how the power supply will be flowing into the rebel-controlled Luhansk region that borders Russia. The rebels are backed by Russia.
Ukraine on Monday announced it will stop supplying power to rebel-held areas in Luhansk because of mounting debts, and local media reported the supply was cut off around midnight.
"Cutting the power supply to the Luhansk region is yet another step by Ukraine to push those territories away," Peskov told reporters in Moscow, saying the move "contradicts the spirit" of the peace accords that Kiev and the rebels signed in Minsk, Belarus, under Russia and European mediation in 2015.
Despite the three years of fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 9,900 people, the trade, water and power supply crossing the front-line never fully stopped. Many local factories and coal mines in this industrial heartland situated on different sides of the conflict are interdependent, and a rupture in the supply lines can cause a complete industrial breakdown.
Alexei Makarkin at the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies, said that the decision on electricity "falls into the trend of Ukraine shutting off Luhansk and Donetsk, and Donetsk shutting off Ukraine and moving closer to Russia. The Minsk agreements are not working, and each side waits for the other to get too weak to stand up for its interests."
Mr Georgiy Tuka, Ukrainian deputy minister for occupied territories, on Tuesday blamed the separatists in parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk region for accumulating 11 billion hryvnias ($431 million) in unpaid debt for power supplies. Tuka said Kiev was not worried about the consequences of cutting power to large swathes of land because Ukrainian authorities were expecting Russia to step in.
Source : AP