As of early Sunday morning Crimea appears to be without power after explosions destroyed previously damaged electricity pylons. The Crimean Civic Blockade asserted at around 1 a.m. that Crimea was totally without power, that the lines bringing electricity to the peninsula were down and could not be repaired. How accurate this is remains to be seen, though the move has certainly proven the degree to which over 18 months after Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea, the peninsula is still largely dependent on Ukraine for power.

This new development follows serious confrontation on Saturday afternoon and evening between activists from the Crimean Blockade underway since Sept 20 and the police and National Guard. News of the explosions came scarcely an hour after promising indications that further conflict might have been averted.

The clashes near Chaplynka and one of the border crossings into Crimea came on the second anniversary of the Euromaidan protests. This elicited many bitter comments on social networks, especially from Crimean Tatars shocked by the use of force against peaceful protesters.

Crimean Tatar TV ATR has released video footage of the confrontation on Saturday afternoon. ATR explains that around 100 armed troops from the Kherson Battalion and the National Guard, led by deputy head of the Kherson regional police Ilya Kiva, surrounded blockade activists who were standing guard and blocking access to the pylons.

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Lenur Islyamov also presented the position of those carrying out the blockade. Certainly the Crimean Tatars who initiated the blockade deny any part in what by the morning of Nov 20 was very obviously deliberate destruction of the pylons bringing electricity to Crimea. Mustafa Dzhemiliev, Chubarov and other Crimean Tatar leaders have, however, consistently called for blockades as a means of forcing Russia to stop grossly violating the rights of Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians and any who oppose Russian occupation.

Islyamov notes that Ukrainians keep asking them whether it’s legal what they are doing in blocking the roads and the repairs to the energy supplies, yet do not ask other pertinent questions. Is it legal that under Russian occupation, Ukrainians should be held in Crimean or Russian prisons, that armed searches of a Crimean Tatar district, of mosques, etc. should be carried out?

Explaining why they were calling for an economic blockade, Mustafa Dzhemiliev pointed to the absurdity of the situation where Russia was oppressing Ukrainian citizens in Crimea while Ukraine acted as though it was business as usual. “85% of the food; 80% of the water and electricity provided to Crimea which Russia claims is its territory is provided at Ukraine’s expense. Why on earth? Is it not too high a price to supply the occupation regime?”

The move was probably belated and should have been made at the outset by Ukraine’s government The very civic nature of the blockade has led to serious problems and infringements by some of the Right Sector and other activists who became involved. The same conflict was seen on Saturday with the Ukrainian authorities in inevitable confrontation with civic activists. They were peaceful, yet the act of blowing up electricity pylons is anything but, and the brutal truth is that people cannot be left without power.