Tuesday, January 13, 2026 10:30:09 AM

Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov told a government meeting on January 12 that the region’s power supply has reached a critical point amid continued shelling, Kommersant reported. He said the loss of generating capacity is almost “catastrophic” across the board. The governor warned the problem could affect all 1.5 million residents and all 22 municipalities, calling the scale of the crisis unprecedented for the region.

After a missile strike on public utilities overnight into January 9, more than 550,000 people across six municipalities were left without electricity, with roughly the same number losing heating. Nearly 200,000 residents were cut off from water and wastewater services. Gladkov said the period ahead will be extremely difficult and noted that without earlier efforts to build backup generation, the consequences would have been even more severe.

The meeting also addressed mobile communications during power cuts. Regional Digital Development Minister Sergei Chetverikov said batteries on more than 5,000 cell towers keep them running for up to six hours, after which the signal is lost. Following the strike and outages, network degradation reached 60%. The governor ordered plans to install generators at towers, involving the operational headquarters, the prosecutor’s office and the federal government.

Gladkov also criticized the closure of Pyaterochka supermarkets during the blackouts and instructed officials to prepare an appeal to prosecutors to liaise with the X5 Group’s management. He said leaving people without food is unacceptable and that outfitting stores with generators is the responsibility of businesses earning substantial profits in the region. Authorities, he added, will not divert generators from social facilities or buy them with public funds for commercial enterprises. X5 Group said some stores are already operating on diesel generators and that it prioritizes outlets facing shortages and is increasing shipments of socially important goods.

Earlier, amid the large-scale blackout, Gladkov said protecting one’s home “largely lies in the hands of homeowners.” He said officials are going door to door to speak with residents about the need to purchase generators.

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