Tyumen authorities have threatened to cut off the water supply to residents who complain about the smell of feces
Irina Aidanova, head of the press office for Tyumen’s “Vodokanal,” responded to three weeks of complaints from Tyumen residents about water with a “fecal odor” and a massive fish kill in the Tura River.
In a video statement, she criticized residents for their complaints against employees and claimed that the water utility could cut off the water supply entirely, leaving 40% of the city without water.
The
controversial statement sparked a wave of outrage on social media, where residents began demanding en masse that the spokesperson be fired. Amid the scandal, Aidanova deleted the video, and Olga Sarbaeva, CEO of “Rosvodokanal Tyumen,” publicly apologized for her subordinate’s remarks, stating that they did not reflect the company’s official position. In total, Tyumen—a city with a population of nearly one million—had previously been forced to open 230 drinking water distribution points due to systemic problems with the quality of the water supply.
controversial statement sparked a wave of outrage on social media, where residents began demanding en masse that the spokesperson be fired. Amid the scandal, Aidanova deleted the video, and Olga Sarbaeva, CEO of “Rosvodokanal Tyumen,” publicly apologized for her subordinate’s remarks, stating that they did not reflect the company’s official position. In total, Tyumen—a city with a population of nearly one million—had previously been forced to open 230 drinking water distribution points due to systemic problems with the quality of the water supply.
On July 28, a regional state of emergency was declared in Russia’s Tyumen Oblast due to abnormal flooding. This followed several weeks of heavy rainfall and came amid complaints from local residents about the deteriorating quality of tap water.
In the temporarily occupied Crimea, power supply problems have worsened due to attacks on energy infrastructure. In some areas of the peninsula, power outages last for extended periods, forcing local residents to seek out generators and other alternative power sources.
