Electricity consumption in occupied Crimea nearly halves in July amid blackouts from Ukrainian strikes
According to a study by independent Russian media The Bell, electricity consumption in occupied Crimea fell by 42% year-over-year in the first 20 days of July 2026, and dropped 28% compared with the first 20 days of June.
Electricity consumption in occupied Crimea fell by 42% year-over-year in the first 20 days of July 2026, and dropped 28% compared with the first 20 days of June, according to a study by the independent Russian media outlet The Bell.
June saw a smaller decline — consumption fell 8% for the month compared with the same period a year earlier. In Sevastopol, consumption fell 22% in the first 20 days of July and 6% year-over-year in June.
The journalists based their assessment on data from the Trading System Administrator of Russia’s wholesale electricity market (ATS), which publishes daily information on electricity trading among Russian regions on the so-called day-ahead market, where energy companies submit bids for their planned hourly consumption.
The data allows for a statistical assessment of the scale of Crimea’s energy crisis, which has persisted since late May amid Ukrainian military strikes on power substations, fuel-carrying vessels in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, and trucks along the land corridor.
The study also found declines in electricity consumption across southern Russia amid the fuel crisis and “near-zero growth rates in the Russian economy.” Consumption fell 8% year-over-year in the first 20 days of July in the Voronezh region, 4.6% in the Belgorod region, 7.1% in Krasnodar Krai, and 4% in the Rostov region.
