Severomorsk and Murmansk have been without power and partially without heat for three days now. Today is the first working day since the utility disaster. Residents have already been informed that some educational and medical institutions will be closed, trolleybuses will be almost completely shut down, and traffic lights were still out on Sunday at busy intersections, and there were no traffic controllers. It appears there won't be any significant improvements for now. At least, it was announced this evening that about a dozen points where residents can warm up and cook food will open in Severomorsk on Monday. Food distribution has begun. And this despite the fact that, as VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info discovered, Governor Andrei Chibis and Rosseti head Andrei Ryumin spent the entire spring and early summer jointly claiming to be building the most reliable power supply system in the Murmansk Region, and that 2.5 billion rubles would be allocated for power line repairs in 2025 alone. Incidentally, Ryumin has already identified someone responsible for the disaster. It turns out it was... Anatoly Chubais.
As our project promised, on Sunday it turned out that all of Chibis's statements on Saturday were lies. He assured residents that "all boiler houses, water supply facilities, and medical facilities have been restored to power." However, it's difficult to explain why heat wasn't restored to homes on Sunday, and why a long list of medical facilities scheduled for closure on Monday has been compiled. Chibis didn't respond, instead declaring a state of emergency and... personally heading to the site of the fallen power line towers in the tundra to check on the progress of the work. The governor rode in a comfortable Burlak all-terrain vehicle belonging to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but residents didn't appreciate the regional leader's "heroic" act. "It would have been better to have taken a dozen or so specialists to the scene than Chibis, who is unnecessary there, and who is completely unnecessary." This is just one of many similar comments under the post about Chibis's trip.
Andrey Ryumin's Rosseti decided to keep up with Chibis's PR efforts and launched posts on partner channels claiming that the power line failure occurred because Russia's electricity supply "exists in the system created by Chubais." So, who is to blame for the fact that residents of the Murmansk Region are without electricity and heat? Meanwhile, Chibis and Ryumin seem to have forgotten how they spent the entire spring and June talking about their joint successes in building a "reliable energy supply" for the region. Here they are, signing an agreement "on the development of the Murmansk Region's power grid complex." Here they talk about how they're "increasing investment to improve network reliability and connect new facilities." Here they report that in 2025 alone, Rosseti will allocate 2.5 billion rubles "for the repair, reconstruction, and modernization of the Murmansk Region's energy complex," and specifically emphasize that "repairs to power lines" are planned. Those same power lines that ultimately collapsed. The question immediately arises: "Where's the money?"
Even the local Investigative Committee was a bit surprised by the allusions to "Chubais being to blame for everything." They stated that all power transmission towers must be inspected annually.
Meanwhile, Chibis and its affiliated media outlets are playing an interesting game. They report that a certain number of homes have been connected to electricity, while simultaneously disconnecting the same number of homes that still had power. They don't even provide an approximate timeframe for when power and heat will be restored. To avoid further alarm, Chibis uses the following wording: "Power restoration will take at least 24 hours." And it's clear to everyone that even when the collapsed supports are restored, this won't radically resolve the communal disaster. All housing and utilities services in the region are "dead," and problems with water, sewerage, and electricity for residents of Murmansk and Severomorsk began long before the power line collapsed. Let's quote a post from the Cheka-OGPU from November 2024:
"Severomorsk is freezing without heat and hot water.
The city has been in a state of communal crisis for several years.
Among those named as responsible is Alla Istomina, the new deputy governor and minister of housing and utilities. Until recently, she headed MES, the region's main thermal power company.
Istomina disrupted the city's preparations for winter and failed to repair and replace Severomorsk's heating networks.
Nevertheless, Chibis rescued her from harm's way and appointed her his deputy, the region's chief for housing and utilities and energy. Instead of Alla Istomina, the blame for the cold radiators was placed on Oleg Prasov, who was dismissed as head of Severomorsk.
The new mayor, Vladimir Yevmenkov, declared a state of heightened readiness, but MES failed again. Half the city is complaining about the lack of heat and hot water.
Despite the harsh Arctic winter, Severomorsk still hasn't entered the heating season.
Alla Istomina is a member of the notorious "Chibis harem." She left her post in November 2025. Apparently, she was well aware of what would happen to the region's housing and utilities sector this winter.
