The city of Sebastopol, the major port on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, was left without electricity on Monday following a Ukrainian strike on energy infrastructure near the city. Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Moscow-appointed governor, announced the outage on Telegram, saying that public facilities had switched to backup power supplies and that specialists were working to restore electricity to homes. He urged residents to conserve their mobile phone batteries and warned that trolleybus services would be suspended through the morning. The city is home to approximately 550,000 people and serves as the principal base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
The attack is part of a sustained Ukrainian campaign to impose an energy blockade on Crimea. Over recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly struck energy infrastructure and fuel tankers supplying the peninsula, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014 in a move not recognised by most of the international community. Russian authorities on the peninsula reported one person killed and two wounded in Monday's strikes, though no further details about the victims or precise locations were provided. Crimea was placed under a state of emergency in late June to manage the consequences of these repeated strikes, which have already caused fuel and electricity shortages. It is the first time since 2022 that the peninsula has faced disruptions of this magnitude.
Ukraine has also intensified efforts to sever the logistical links between Crimea, mainland Russia, and other Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including a recent strike that destroyed a key railway bridge on the peninsula. Crimea hosts numerous Russian military installations and has been a regular target of Ukrainian naval and aerial attacks that have already forced Moscow to relocate part of its Black Sea Fleet away from the peninsula.
The strikes came shortly after separate phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the calls were nominally tied to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, the war dominated both conversations. The Kremlin described Putin's call — which reportedly lasted an hour and a half — as "constructive," and said Trump had again offered to mediate, with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ready to travel to Moscow. Zelensky said on X that "there is a real prospect this war can end" and that the two leaders would continue discussions at a NATO summit in Turkey this week, adding that American resolve remained crucial to Ukraine's defence.