Cuba’s electricity grid collapsed nationwide on Friday, leaving millions without power in at least the sixth major outage since January. The Energy and Mines Ministry said restoration protocols had been activated after a transmission failure in the western part of the country, with unstable weather further straining the system. The eastern grid was subsequently disconnected. By dusk, electricity had returned to 5% of Havana’s roughly 862,000 customers, while small distribution micro-islands were being established in Camagüey, Pinar del Río and Granma and supplies to hospitals and other emergency facilities were being restored. The outages have intensified during Cuba’s economic crisis and since the United States restricted fuel shipments to the island in January, limiting access to fuel for thermoelectric plants and replacement parts for obsolete infrastructure. Cuba has received only one fuel tanker since then, a Russian shipment in March. Repeated blackouts have disrupted transport, working hours, flights, cooking, water supplies and communications, while hospitals and other essential services have faced serious pressure. Earlier reports described a transmission fault and poor weather in central Cuba, with restoration continuing after power returned to priority areas in Havana.