Russian spy ship theories sink after Orkney blackout traced to wind farm fault

Timing of Yantar's visit sparked gossip, but engineers point to a misbehaving protection system

Cock-up beats conspiracy most of the time, but that didn't stop Orkney residents wondering if a Russian warship caused their two-hour power cut.

The lights went out across Orkney and part of Caithness for two hours from 1910 UTC on Wednesday, November 19. With no immediate explanation, locals filled the gap with their own notions.

"There are various theories connecting the power (and phone) outage with the presence of Russian intelligence-gathering vessels in the area," one local told us, expressing a fear that has some merit.

The timing was suspiciously cinematic. That same day, the Ministry of Defence held a press conference warning that Russian spy vessel Yantar was suspected of mapping subsea cables north of Scotland.

Alistair Carmichael, MP for Orkney and Shetland, wrote to Defence Secretary John Healey seeking answers. He noted ...