Down Angle Symbol A symbol in the form of an angle pointing downwards. Russia is experiencing a harsh winter. Sefa Karacan/Anadolu/Getty Images
- In the harsh Russian winter, heating systems fail, leaving many people freezing.
- Much of Russia's Soviet-era infrastructure needs to be modernized.
- But Russia is more likely to invest in war than in public utilities.
In the harsh Russian winter, heating systems fail, many people freeze, while Moscow continues to spend money on its war in Ukraine.
Parts of Russia are experiencing an unusually cold winter – temperatures in Siberia reached -70 degrees Fahrenheit in December.
The brutal conditions are made worse by the fact that Russia's infrastructure is poorly maintained, with many of its facilities dating back to the Soviet era, according to media reports.
This has led to a spate of failures in central heating systems since December, even sweeping parts of the Moscow region and the city of St. Petersburg, The Bell, an independent Russian media outlet, reported on January 16.
In one incident, more than a dozen people suffered burns in the western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod when a large heating pipe burst and boiling water poured into the streets, DW reported, citing a local news channel on Telegram. The damaged pipe also caused over 3,000 people to lose access to heating.
“We are still using the municipal infrastructure created during the Soviet era,” said Russian lawmaker Svetlana Razvorotneva, who is a member of a national urban planning committee, according to DW. About 40% of the country's municipal heating network is in urgent need of replacement, she added.
However, according to the Financial Times, funding for public utilities accounted for only 2.2% of Russia's total spending last year. In contrast, Moscow's military spending accounted for about 21% of Russia's budget that same year, according to Reuters.
Russia is also increasing defense spending to a third of its budget this year as the war in Ukraine looks set to enter its third year, the Russian Finance Ministry said in October, according to Reuters.
As the costs of the war add up, the Kremlin will likely have to introduce austerity measures to get Russia's budget deficit under control, British intelligence agencies reported on Monday.
Nevertheless, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is still almost certain to win a fifth term in Russia's presidential election in March.
“People are dissatisfied with the state of municipal services, but they perceive the situation as a chronic illness,” Denis Volkov, the director of the Levada Center, an independent research organization, told the FT. “When something breaks it upsets them, but it’s not a surprise.”
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