AKIPRESS.COM - The Kremlin has answered Kiev’s failure to repair power lines supplying energy to Crimea with a coal export ban,  according to Russian business daily Kommersant.

According to Kommersant’s sources in the industry, Russian customs is not letting coke and bituminous coal for power generation into Ukraine.

However, there are no problems with coal transit through Ukraine, Kommersant reports.

On Tuesday, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak accused Ukraine of not repairing sabotaged power lines supplying energy to the Crimean peninsula for 'political reasons'.

He warned that in response, Moscow could cut off coal supplies to Ukrainian power stations, which could partly disrupt their output.

Last Sunday, Crimea switched to reserve power after transmission pylons in the adjacent Ukrainian Kherson region were blown up, causing a blackout. Nearly 1.9 million people were left partly or fully without electricity, reports RT.