As Putin channels billions into the war, Russia plunges into critical municipal services crisis
In the winter of 2024, Russia is facing a severe municipal services crisis that affected heating, electricity, and also waste management across the country.
Social media abounds with Russians raising the alarm about the "garbage collapse" plaguing their cities.
Issues with waste collection have been happening in several Russian regions, including the Moscow region, where dumpsites are overflowing, and authorities appear unresponsive to complaints.
In the Chelyabinsk and Kemerovo regions, municipal workers, as some witnesses claim, have resorted to burying heaps of rubbish under snow.
"A new trend in 'garbage disposal'. They’ve started burying it in snow. This trash has been there since last year. On January 10th, the pile of waste they tried to bury is still in the same place," residents of Chelyabinsk report.
The scale of Russia’s municipal crisis is growing, likely a result of funding cuts in the housing and utility sector by the Kremlin. The Russian government seems to prioritize spending on the over improving the lives of Russians. Another contributing factor is a critical shortage of labor. Tens of thousands of utility workers were sent to the front lines in Ukraine during the mass mobilization in the fall of 2022, with no workforce to replace them.
It’s worth noting that a waste crisis erupted in the Donbas after the region came under Russian occupation. With the majority of the able-bodied population fleeing areas under Russian control, cities were overwhelmed with garbage.
Russia faces a similar fate, slowly transforming into one giant Donetsk People’s Republic.