Electrical power running from Ukraine's Kherson region to Crimea initially was disrupted on Nov. 20, when two transmission towers were damaged and subsequently went out of service. In the early morning of Nov. 22, an explosion took the two remaining transmission towers offline, effectively cutting off all electricity supplies from Ukraine to Crimea. Afterward, authorities in Crimea imposed a state of emergency and turned to backup gas-powered generators to provide electricity temporarily to the peninsula's major cities, such as Sevastopol, Simferopol and Yalta. However, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said Nov. 23 that at least 1.5 million Crimean residents were still without power and that the generators were able to fill only around 30 percent of electricity needs for those with access to them.