In The Irkutsk RF Region, Thousands Of People Were Left Without Heat And Electricity In A 40-degree Frost
- 30.01.2026, 12:41
The outage has been going on for days.
In the city of Bodaibo in the Irkutsk region of the Russian Federation, where there are frosts up to -45 degrees Celsius, a "heightened readiness" mode has been introduced due to a communal accident that left at least 120 residential houses without water and heating. This was reported in the Bodaiba administration. Authorities reported on "temporary disruptions in the supply of vital resources," saying that utility workers and EMERCOM forces are working around the clock to eliminate the consequences of the emergency, "affecting water and heat supply systems." Local residents, who began to connect electric heaters en masse due to the lack of heat, were also asked not to exceed the load on power grids if possible, The Moscow Times writes .
Citizens report that water and heating outages began lasting several days. "Half the city is shut off, they've been struggling for two days, heating up. At least the power grids could withstand such a consumption of electricity. Now everyone is on heaters," wrote one of the locals. According to the first deputy mayor of Bodaibo, Oleg Gorin, the city's 500-millimeter-diameter water pipe froze over because of the night frosts, and as a result, the work of three boiler houses was halted. The population of Bodaibo - more than 8 thousand people. Another accident occurred in Irkutsk - Kuibyshevsky district of the city with a population of over 600 thousand people was left without electricity, Irkutskmedia.ru.
According to power engineers, there is no power supply in at least 16 streets. Employees of "Southern Electric Networks" establish the exact cause of disconnection and are engaged in the restoration of the system.
According to public data, in Bodaibo in the afternoon on January 30, the air will freeze to -35 degrees, by evening it is expected to cool to -40, and at night - to -44. On January 31, the temperature will range from -33 to -40 degrees. Daytime temperatures in Irkutsk reach -16 degrees, at night it was up to -21.
In the meantime, the administration of Bodaibo reported the opening of two temporary accommodation centers - in elementary school № 35 and kindergarten "Golden Key".
"And what should people do in such situations? Children are at home, the third heater is already on. You call the management company - "what do we have to do with it?". You call TVK - they don't answer the phone, they don't know anything. Wait - and that's it. How long to wait, what to wait for - sit and guess", - complain Bodaibo residents in public forums.
In December 2025 in Bodaibo there has already been an accident at the boiler house № 7, as a result of which at 45-degree frost in residential buildings was reduced heat supply. The city prosecutor's office then achieved recalculation of heating fees for 156 citizens in the amount of more than 53 thousand rubles, the department reported.
In early December, almost 170 thousand residents of Angarsk were without heat for several days because of the accident at CHPP-9. The authorities introduced a state of emergency and deployed temporary accommodation centers.