The Kalanchak and Chaplynka districts of Ukraine's Kherson region have temporarily switched to a backup power supply system after the 220-kilovolt Kakhovka-Titan power line, which supplies electricity to these districts, was disconnected, the Kherson region administration reported on Thursday.

The regional administration said, citing spokesman for the Ukrainian power body Zynoviy Butsio, that in the early hours of December 30, electricity supplies via this power line were disrupted after its protection system was activated near the village of Bohdanivka in the Kakhovka district. As a result, power supplies to Crimea were suspended.

According to Butsio, an application for repairs has already been submitted and Ukrenergo's repair brigades will examine the site.

"Since it happened at nighttime, it proved to be impossible to establish the exact reason. After all circumstances are clarified, they will fix the pylon or replace it," Butsio said.

One of the Crimea blockade activists, Lenur Islyamov, has suggested that the Kakhovka-Titan power line could have been disconnected because of powerful winds.

"Strong winds were blowing. Most likely, it was a short circuit. But are civil activists involved in that? We are not involved," Islyamov said in an interview with an online publication.

Hopefully, Ukraine will officially stop electricity supplies to Crimea starting from the New Year, he said.

"I think that the state will switch off the light tomorrow. I very much hope that it will happen," he said, adding that a contract between Russia and Ukraine on power supplies to Crimea expires on the night of December 31.

At the end of December 2014, the Russian energy company Inter RAO and Ukrinterenergo signed two contracts on the delivery of electricity from Russia to Ukraine and from Ukraine to Crimea. The contracts entered into force on December 30, 2014 and are valid until the end of 2015.

Overnight into November 22, power supplies to Crimea from Ukraine were completely disrupted after pylons supporting all four power lines supplying electricity to the peninsula were blown up in the Kherson region. On December 8, power supplies were resumed only via the 220-kilovolt Kakhovka-Titan-Krasnoperekopsk line with a technological maximum cross-flow capacity of up to 200 Megawatts.