A major utility outage has cut off running water to more than 650,000 people in the Far Eastern Primorsky region, local emergency officials said Monday.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said the outage was caused by an equipment failure at a power substation in the village of Shtykovo, where more than 1,000 people were left without electricity.
The failure cut power to regional pumping stations, causing water to stop flowing at thousands of homes, apartments and public buildings, including schools and hospitals, in the regional capital of Vladivostok, officials said.
Technical crews have begun setting up backup generators. Repairs were underway at the power substation in Shtykovo, the regional utilities ministry said, adding that water trucks were being deployed in parts of Vladivostok.
“If possible, stock up on enough drinking water,” the ministry said in a statement. Officials said they expected repairs to finish later on Monday.
Utilities outages are common across Russia. Authorities estimate that wear and tear on utility networks ranges from 40% to 80% depending on the region.
