United Russia Deputies Block Karelian Parliament from Discussing Problems of Karelian Village whose Water Supply has Been Cut Off for Almost a Month

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 12 – Residents of Kurkiyoki, a 1,000-person village in Karelia, say that they have not had water for more than three weeks because of problems with the pipeline carrying it to them and add that the ruling United Russia party has blocked the republic parliament from discussing their plight and then addressing it.

            This may seem a minor issue, but it is an important sign of the ways in which the problems the peoples of the Russian Federation are becoming increasingly political in advance of the September Duma elections (novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/06/12/kak-poselok-v-karelii-tretiu-nedeliu-vyzhivaet-bez-vody-iz-za-avarii).

            This controversy is one of the first signs of a development that many in the regions and republics welcome and that many in the Putin regime fear, the way in which elections almost inevitably politicize issues that up to now both the population and its rulers have viewed as ordinary and non-political disputes.