Residents of the southern Russian city of Krasnodar staged a rare protest on Saturday against power cuts and water supply disruptions caused by a power grid outage amid record temperatures.
Angry residents gathered in the streets near residential buildings shouting “Give me light” after suffering power cuts for several days, videos posted on social media showed.
Repair work is underway and residents are being supplied with clean drinking water, the city’s mayor, Yevgeny Naumov, said on Saturday. “We all need to remain calm and understand what is happening, even if it is not easy,” he said in a message on Telegram.
The power outages come as the city is experiencing unusually high temperatures, with a daily record high set for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS. The maximum temperature was 39 degrees Celsius on Friday, according to TASS.
Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratiev said Saturday that “abnormal heat,” lack of adequate capacity during peak periods and the operation of the Rostov nuclear power plant were some of the factors that contributed to the outages. One of the units at the Rostov plant, the region’s largest, was temporarily shut down earlier this week due to a technical malfunction.
“For a week now, the Krasnodar region has been experiencing abnormal heat. The load on the energy system is colossal,” Governor Kondratiev said. “I know and understand all the indignation of the residents over the power outages.”
He said he was “in constant contact” with energy workers and that “where possible, emergency teams are fixing breakdowns as quickly as possible.” Kondratiev said the city’s mayor is currently in the worst-hit area and “is constantly reporting on the situation.”
Public protests in Russia are very rare, especially since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The government has introduced wartime censorship laws that can carry harsh penalties, including imprisonment, for discrediting the military.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com
