Russia grapples with freezing crisis. Heat failure leaves towns in the grip of bitter cold
10:56 AM EST, January 7, 2024
There's an increasing number of shocking images from towns around Moscow appearing on social media due to this crisis. Freezing water in stairwells, cracked radiators, and iced-over walls and windowsills inside apartments serve as visual proof of the combined effects of a heating network failure and severe frost.
"They forgot their own citizens"
"While Russian authorities and propagandists were busy conjuring up terrifying tales about Europe freezing without Russian gas, they completely overlooked their citizens," stated former Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Gerashchenko shared a recording showing towns near Moscow being swallowed by ice. Handrails, steps, and apartment doors are covered with thick ice crust. The living conditions inside apartments fare no better, with icy walls and windowsills.
Other posts on Platform X reveal severe effects of the heating network failure and freezing temperatures. Pipes and radiators in homes have cracked. One noteworthy recording was made in Klimovsk, about 31 miles from Moscow, home to approximately 60,000 residents.
Gerashchenko's grim prediction
According to Gerashchenko, the problem of freezing homes has been plaguing 20 towns in the Moscow region for several days. Local heating networks and substations could not cope with the extreme cold exceeding -22 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. The former head of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that utility service workers promise everything will be fixed "shortly". However, he remains doubtful about these assurances as radiators and heaters in many apartments have already started to crack.
"While Putin spends billions of rubles on missiles to attack Ukraine, people freeze in their own homes in regions of Russia that are supposedly 'rising from its knees'," Gerashchenko concluded his post.
Per the weather report from Your Weather Service, the harsh weather is expected to linger over Moscow for at least two more weeks. Bitter frost, often dropping below -22 degrees Fahrenheit, will continue to prevail.
