Putin’s War in Ukraine Leaves Thousands of Russians This Winter without Heat or Water

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 6 – Despite promises by Russian officials that they would prevent breakdowns in the supply of heat and water to the residents of the Russian Federation this winter, thousands are now sitting without either – and ever more Russians are connected the dots between the absence of heat and water and continuation of Putin’s war.

            Every day brings fresh stories from around the Russian Federation about such breakdowns, according to a detailed survey by the SibReal portal which  features a comparison between what it would cost to repair them and the costs of the war in Ukraine (sibreal.org/a/my-tut-pytaemsya-vyzhit-kak-voyna-uskoryaet-kommunalnyy-kollaps-v-rossii/33641062.html).

            Experts say, the portal reports  that the war is costing the Russian Federation approximately 30 billion rubles per day (320 million US dollars), or about 1.25 billion rubles (15 million US dollars) per hour (re-russia.net/review/378/).” That means, it continues, if only a few minutes of the war were cancelled, many villages could have their communal services fixed.

            Even more, SibReal suggests, “with the amount spent on four years of war, it would be possible to upgrade the heating networks throughout the country at least twice” and to revive the program of replacing dilapidated housing with ease so no Russian would have to live without indoor plumbing and indoor toilets.

            This situation recalls a bitter Russian joke about Moscow’s preparedness. Russia, Kremlin spokesmen say, is quite prepared to fight a nuclear war even though one of those has never happened; but the Russian leadership isn’t capable to dealing with the consequences of the onset of winter even though that happens every year.