Substation failure cuts water to 600,000 in Primorye region

A power transmission failure at the 110 kV Shtykowo substation in Russia's Primorye region on the night of September 27–28, 2026, triggered cascading outages affecting water and electricity supplies across multiple municipalities. The damaged equipment at the substation disabled pump stations operated by Primmorskiy vodkanal (Primorsky Water Company), leaving residents without cold water in Vladivostok, Artyom, and Nadezhdinskiy district. Approximately 600,000 people were affected by the water outages. In addition, 158 homes in Shtykowo village and nearby Smolyaninovо lost electricity; Smolyaninovо's power was restored by morning, but about 1,100 residents in Shtykowo remained without electricity as of the time of reporting.

DRSK (Far Eastern Distribution Grid Company), the grid operator, confirmed the equipment damage and began emergency repairs with 18 specialists deployed to the site. Parallel to grid repairs, Primmorskiy vodkanal activated backup generators to restore water supply. Affected neighborhoods in Vladivostok included Churkina, Patrокl, Firstomayskiy, and Leninskiy districts; residents also reported dry taps in Egershelde, BAM, and central Vladivostok. Local residents noted that published outage lists appeared incomplete.

Primmorskiy vodkanal initially projected water service restoration by 18:00 local time on September 28, while grid repairs continued. The company advised residents to store drinking water as a precaution. By morning, DRSK had restored electricity to some consumers via backup circuits, but full restoration of both utilities remained dependent on completion of substation repairs.