MOSCOW — An explosion at an electricity substation triggered extensive power outages in Moscow and nearby cities Wednesday, throwing the capital's public transportation into chaos and disrupting work at factories, hospitals and other institutions.
President Vladimir V. Putin quickly accused top management of the state-run power monopoly of being too focused on restructuring the firm at the expense of running it properly. The corporation, Unified Energy System of Russia, is headed by Anatoly B. Chubais, one of Putin's political opponents.
"I think it happened due to insufficient attention on their part to everyday activity of the corporation," Putin said in comments reported by the Russian news agency Itar-Tass. "Early data indicates there were some other problems besides worn-out equipment, although it's true that it had not been modernized since 1966."
Prosecutors announced they were opening a criminal investigation of the firm's top management on suspicion of negligence and abuse of office.
Other detractors of Chubais, who still carries significant weight in pro-democracy circles here, quickly joined a chorus of criticism. The inquiry is widely seen here as an indication that the mishap might be used to push Chubais out of his job or weaken his political influence.
In recent years Chubais has concentrated on his work at Unified Energy System and avoided frequent or strong criticism of Putin. But he is still a leader of the opposition Union of Right Forces party, and has spoken out against Kremlin policies.
Chubais said at a news conference that about 2 million people were affected by the rolling power failures and issued an apology.
"Unified Energy System and myself, as its CEO, are fully responsible for today's accident," he said, noting that he was aware of Putin's criticism. "It is a matter of our conscience. Nobody is going to put the blame at somebody else's door."
After the electricity breakdown, the control systems for Russia's nuclear missile forces instantly went to backup power, Col. Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of general staff, told reporters.
"Control of the armed forces was not lost," he said. "The central command post of the Strategic Rocket Forces automatically switched to emergency electricity supplies at 11:11 a.m. Moscow time."
