Andrey Kaut15:51, 07.10.26

Russians are left without heating en masse during night frosts.

Despite the official start of the heating season and nighttime frosts, residents of dozens of cities across the Russian Federation remain without heat in their homes due to deteriorating utility networks, The Moscow Times reports .

A similar situation is observed in the Chelyabinsk, Perm, and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and Omsk. In the northern regions of Russia, the heating season began on September 21, but in many cities, even social institutions such as kindergartens have no heating. Residents are complaining of a lack of hot water and heating, as well as mold growing on the walls.

The collapse of the heating season is the result of decades of deterioration in utility infrastructure, experts say. Currently, this deterioration averages over 40%, reaching 70–80% in some regions. Meanwhile, only about 1% of utility networks are updated annually. Weak sections of the network repeatedly become apparent, especially when the heating season begins and demand increases.

Meanwhile, the Russian government raised utility rates by an average of 15% nationwide on October 1. This 17% annual increase will be the highest since 2009. However, officials don’t plan to stop there: utility prices will increase by another 11% in 2027, 8.6% in 2028, and 7.6% in 2029. In total, over four years, Russians’ bills will almost double—by 44.2%.

(C)UNIAN 2026