Power supplies restored to four Russian regions
MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) - Electricity supplies cut off by freak weather over the weekend have already been restored to the Smolensk, Tver, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod regions, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry told Interfax on Tuesday.
More than 250 towns and villages in the Moscow region are still suffering from a power outage, the ministry said.
"Electricity supplies have already been resumed to four regions [the Smolensk, Tver, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod regions]," it said.
A total of 1,672 towns and villages in the Volga and Central Federal Districts where 445,054 people live, as well as 284 key social sector facilities were left without electricity after power lines snapped under the weight of heavy snow and ice on December 26-27, the ministry said.
A blackout also brought the operations of Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport to a halt at 10:00 a.m. on December 26. Power supplies were restored to the airport at 7:00 p.m. on December 27.
A total of 258 towns and villages in the Moscow region where 39,023 people live had been left without electricity. Fourteen key social sector facilities were connected to backup generators.
Up to 6,212 people and 2,457 units of equipment are currently working to restore electricity supplies to affected areas.