Crimea, which broke away from Ukraine in March, has been cut off from the county's electricity supplies, officials say.

The peninsula will now have to use energy from local generators and two thermal power plants to fulfill its needs.

Crimean authorities have said they are still awaiting official explanation as to why supplies have bee disrupted.

They have added they are intending to sue Kiev and to demand compensations for thousands of devices which could have been damaged by the blackout.

This is the second cut in a week, with electricity services being halted for two hours on December 24 but then resumed.

Hours after the blackout was officially announced, a Ukrainian official told Russian business daily RBC the reason might have been "excessive consumption" and the electric current would have also been cut automatically "in any Ukrainian region" that reached a limit.

Ukraine maintains Crimea is still part of its territory.

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