Electricity lines between Ukraine, Moldova, Romania fail, causing mass outages

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by Agence France-PresseJanuary 31, 2026 at 01:03 PM

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A technical malfunction on Saturday caused the failure of key electricity lines connecting Ukraine with Moldova and Romania, leading to mass power outages across Ukraine. The incident, which occurred at 10:42 am, affected both the 400-kilovolt line between Romania and Moldova and the 750-kilovolt line between western and central Ukraine. The outages disrupted water supplies in Kyiv and forced the shutdown of the city's metro system, impacting transportation for many residents. Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that power restoration efforts were underway and expected to be completed within hours. President Zelensky called the event an emergency and emphasized the need to quickly stabilize the situation.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Kharkiv 40% Kyiv 60% Volodymyr Zelensky 60% Denys Shmyhal 70% Moldova ×270% Romania ×270% Ukraine ×590%

Keywords

power grid 90% outages 90% ukraine 90% electricity lines 80% romania 70% technical malfunction 70% moldova 70% energy minister 60% metro network 50% water supplies 50%