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Activists of energy blockade of Crimea split

Right Sector radicals say they will withdraw their blockade activists to send them to the Crimea’s border
Right Sector activists Maxim Nikitin/TASS
Right Sector activists
© Maxim Nikitin/TASS

KIEV, December 8. /TASS/. Following a split among activists of the so-called energy blockade of Crimea, Right Sector radicals said they will withdraw their blockade activists to send them to the Crimea’s border, the 112 Ukraina television channels said on Tuesday, citing the Right Sector website.

According to 112 Ukraina, the split was triggered by the blockade organizers’ decision to let repair teams finally reach the damaged Kakhovka-Titan electricity transmission line the feeds Crimea with electricity from Ukraine. Right Sector said this decision had not been agreed with it "and other public organizations, volunteer battalions and patriotic movements which are members of the headquarters of the ‘Crimean maidan’ [the word ‘maidan,’ or the name of Kiev’s central Independence Square, a venue of grass-roots protests, is used to refer to protest movements of all types — TASS] led by Lenur Islyamov [a member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, or parliament, who claims to be the coordinator of Crimea’s blockade — TASS]."

"We consider resumption of electricity supplies via one of the electricity transmission lines as another anti-Ukrainian step made by the current regime and as flirting with our enemies by some of our partners and allies," Right Sector said. "This step is a concession to our external and domestic enemies."

Electricity supplies via the Kakhovka-Titan transmission line which feeds two districts in Ukraine’s Kherson region and some of Crimean localities were resumed overnight to Tuesday, after 16 days of energy blockade of Crimea. According to Russia’s energy ministry, Ukrenergo’s electricity supplies to Crimea on December 8 stood at 104 megawatt (out of 769 megawatt of Crime’s overall generation).

Electricity supplies to Crimea from Ukraine’s Kherson region were interrupted on November 22 when Ukrainian radicals blew up transmission pylons at all the four electricity transmission lines. Ever since one of the damaged lines — Kakhovka-Titan — was restored, energy blockade activists have been blocking its use. Russia’s Federal Security Service initiated a criminal case on charges of subversive activities.

The first electricity transmission line with a capacity of more than 200 megawatt of the so-called energy bridge linking Crimea and mainland Russia was commissioned in the evening on December 2 in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Another line with a capacity of 250 megawatt is expected to be commissioned on December 15. The energy bridge is geared to make Crime independent from electricity supplies from Ukraine.