Moscow, January 9 – The press secretary of the president, Dmitry Peskov, has attributed the heating problems in Russian regions to abnormal frosts and the deterioration of housing and utilities infrastructure. “This work is ongoing, and all services are working in emergency mode, day and night. We hope that we will be able to deal with this situation and restore electricity and, most importantly, warmth to the people in the nearest future,” said the Kremlin representative. He noted that the heating situation has been addressed promptly from the start, with housing and utilities companies, regional, municipal, and district services working around the clock in all affected regions. “However, firstly, we are dealing with abnormal frosts, and secondly, despite all the titanic efforts to update all housing and utilities systems, naturally, a certain part of them remains in a rather dilapidated state. These programs will continue, but not in 10 or 15 minutes: it is impossible to renew all pipes and systems of housing and utilities, so, of course, these programs will take time,” added the president’s press secretary. Peskov emphasized that maximum efforts were made during the heat shutdown in the Moscow Region, and conclusions will be drawn regarding the consequences of the situation. The press secretary reminded that Vladimir Putin had spoken with the governor of the Kherson Region, Vladimir Saldov, the head of the Moscow Region, Andrei Vorobyov, and the leadership of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Rosseti regarding electricity and heat supply in the regions. The president has given necessary instructions and listened to reports on the abnormal frosts and emergency situations. In the past few days, accidents occurred in the heating networks in the Moscow suburbs of Podolsk, Dmitrov, Chekhov, Solnechnogorsk, Balashikha, Lobnya, Khimki, as well as in the Kherson Region and Nakhodka.
