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Blackout hits most of ex-Soviet Georgia, news reports say

By Thomson Reuters Aug 5, 2026 | 4:15 PM

Aug 5 (Reuters) – A power cut plunged most of the former Soviet ​state of Georgia ‌into darkness on Wednesday, an outage that may have been triggered by testing at ‌a ​major hydroelectric ⁠plant, according to ⁠Russian media.

Russian news agencies said major cities including the capital, Tbilisi, in the ​South Caucasus country of about 3.7 million ⁠people lost ⁠electricity at about 8 ​p.m.

The agencies quoted an ​official from the commission overseeing ‌the country’s power and water utilities, Giorgi Pangani, as saying the incident ⁠coincided with tests at he hydroelectric station.

After two power outages ⁠last ‌month, the tests ⁠were being performed to ​identify ‌weak points in ​the country’s ⁠power grid, Pangani said.

Pangani said the latest power cut was being investigated.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by ​Cynthia Osterman)