The Moscow region has been hit by sub-zero temperatures
As Vladimir Putin is spending billions of pounds on his war in Ukraine, people across Moscow have been left freezing without heating or hot water.
Temperatures in the capital plummeted to -30°C, and the old heating network is reportedly unable to withstand the weather.
This has meant that more than 20,000 residents have been abandoned freezing in sub-zero temperatures recorded in their own homes for days.
A married couple and their dog reportedly died from carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to keep warm in the city Kolomna, Moscow region.
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Footage circulating on Telegram shows windows and doors covered with layers of ice amid the cold, and people were seen burning wood on the streets to keep warm.
Meanwhile, water mains burst in multiple buildings only worsening the situation for people.
This comes amid rumours of an incident at one of the largest ammunition plants in the town of Klimovsk, which some claim is connected with the problems.
According to reports, Klimovsk ‘is heated by one departmental boiler house of the local cartridge plant’, which has broken down.
Multiple apartment blocks were left without heating or hot water
It is understood that government officials only learnt about the issue from social media where residents were complaining en-masse.
There was even a spontaneous protest on the main square of the town on January 5, with people saying that the temperature in their apartments dropped to -10°C.
Several sign that read ‘SOS – We are freezing – Punish the guilty’ were seen, but officials have been unable to say when heating will be restored.
A protest video said: ‘Since yesterday they promise nothing. Grandmothers are freezing at home.
’Children dressed in coats are sick, coughing. The hospitals are cold, everywhere is cold.
’We need to do something to solve this. Who is responsible is still unclear…we get only excuses.’
A resident complained: ‘The police arrived quickly to disrupt us. I wish they would bring back the heating as fast as they dispatched the cops [to disperse us].’
In Lytkarino, Moscow region, another power station broke down leaving people to light fires outside in the icy temperatures to try and get warmth.
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People are freezing in their homes.