Nuclear Reactor Malfunction Leaves Millions of Russians Without Power

Millions of Russians in the south of the country were left without electricity on Tuesday after a power unit at the Rostov nuclear power plant was shut down due to a malfunction.

The Rostov nuclear power plant supplies power to the Russia's entire Southern Federal District, and rolling power outages affected residents of Russia's Krasnodar Territory, Rostov region, Sevastopol, and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula illegally annexed by President Vladimir Putin from Ukraine in 2014.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Russia's state-owned energy group Rosatom said one of the nuclear power plant's four power units was shut down due to a malfunction of the turbine generator.

"The reasons are being investigated; the radiation background is normal," a Rosatom representative told Reuters on Tuesday.

The agency said in a statement that two of the plant's power units are operating as normal, while another has been undergoing scheduled maintenance since June 22.

Valery Andrianov, an associate professor at Moscow's Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told newspaper Izvestia a heat wave that has swept Russia in recent days likely contributed to the power plant's malfunction.

"Electricity consumption in the country increased by 9 percent in the second week of July compared to the previous week—electricity is used primarily for air conditioning and cooling systems. At the same time, the main load falls on the European part of Russia and the Urals," he said.

Andrianov linked the issue to an increased demand for electricity and the possible overheating of equipment.

Russia was also hit by widespread power outages earlier this month after a Ukrainian drone barrage struck the country's Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions.

Kyiv's drone attacks left 90 percent of the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, without electricity and water, Telegram channel Mash, which says it is linked to Russia's security services, reported on July 1.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry said at the time that about 90 percent of the Belgorod region, including the cities of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, was without electricity.

Attacks targeting critical infrastructure have typically been part of the Russian military playbook in the war. A Financial Times report published on June 5 said Russia had taken out more than half Ukraine's power-generation capacity since invading the country on February 24, 2022.

Ukraine is also currently experiencing widespread power outages in seven regions after "equipment failed at one of the power facilities," grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement on Tuesday.

"At 10:00, Ukrenergo gave the order to apply emergency blackouts in Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kirovohrad [regions]," the statement read.

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