Belgorod governor urges locals to leave region if power supply fails again

Residents of the Belgorod region in southwestern Russia should be ready to stay with relatives elsewhere in the event of a “complex emergency” that sees the region once again left with no electricity or heating, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Tuesday.

Gladkov said that if the entire region’s electricity supply failed, it would not be possible to restore supply to residential buildings and businesses with backup generators.

“I’m not saying that you need to drop everything and move to another region. Not at all. You just need to understand what to do in the event of a complex emergency if there is no heating or electricity,” Gladkov said, urging residents with children in particular to go and stay with relatives elsewhere in Russia who still had heating and electricity.

On Thursday, over half a million residents of the regional capital Belgorod and some districts surrounding the city were left without heating and electricity following Ukrainian drone strikes on a thermal power plant and an electricity substation. Another 200,000 people were left without water.

Independent media outlet Agentstvo said that the regional authorities had restored the electricity and water supply to the majority of those affected by Monday. There were, however, complaints from residents in the town of Stroitel, north of regional capital Belgorod, where elevators had been switched off, while parts of the city of Belgorod reportedly remained without water.

Regional news website Pepel reported on Monday that some factories in the region had still not had their power supply restored, adding that the authorities had imposed restrictions on over 60 manufacturing plants, allowing them only to use electricity at night. Shopping centres in the city of Belgorod were also experiencing power supply issues, Pepel continued, adding that only some businesses would be open in two shopping centres, while a third would be closed completely.

Gladkov, who on Saturday had urged all residents who could afford one to purchase their own power generator, called the region’s loss of power “almost catastrophic” on Monday, state-affiliated business daily Kommersant reported.