Russia: A major power outage struck the Dagestani capital Makhachkala over the weekend after a fire broke out at a key electrical substation, cutting electricity to nearly 90,000 residents, the region’s Energy Ministry confirmed.
The blaze erupted at the Novaya substation at 4:48 a.m. on 26 July, reportedly caused by a technical fault linked to transmission line overload, according to local utility Dagenergo. The outage primarily affected central areas of the city.
Emergency repair crews, backed by eight specialist vehicles, were swiftly deployed. By 9:00 a.m., electricity had been partially restored to more than 36,000 homes, and by 11:00 a.m., service had resumed for nearly half of all affected customers.
Authorities said 23 cable lines were damaged during the incident, and full restoration efforts continued throughout the day.
The incident marks the latest in a string of power disruptions in the region. On 15 June, another electrical failure cut off supply to 27 settlements, affecting around 10,000 people. Additionally, a cyclone-related outage on 9 July left more than 25,000 residents in the Yaroslavl and Ivanovo regions without power.
Officials are now assessing long-term solutions to reduce overload risk and enhance grid resilience across the republic.
Source: The Moscow Times
