In a rare show of protest on Monday, Russians in the city of Orsk demanded pay after a dam broke and caused floods in the Orenburg region, which is close to the border with Kazakhstan. The AP says that protests are not common in Russia because the government has constantly cracked down on any kind of criticism since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. At least one hundred people gathered at the Orsk government building on Monday, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. Videos posted on Russian social media showed people shouting "Putin, help us" and "shame."
Rising water levels in the Ural River caused storms that forced more than 4,000 people, including 885 children, to leave the area, the government said on Sunday. On Monday, Tass said that about 10,000 homes, including about 7,000 in Orsk, were flooded, and the water level in the city is still rising. Video from Orsk and Orenburg showed that water was partly covering homes and other buildings, as well as areas nearby. Russia's government declared a federal emergency on Sunday in flood-damaged parts of Orenburg. The government is also getting ready for possible floods in three other areas, according to state media. There is now a criminal investigation into possible building code violations that may have led the dam to break.
After the protest, Tass said that Denis Pasler, the governor of the Orenburg region, promised people who had to leave their homes that they would get about $108 a month for six months. The regional government told the AP on Sunday that the storm should have caused about $227 million in damage. On Sunday, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said that Putin had talked with the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the heads of the Kurgan and Tyumen regions, both of which are in the Ural Mountains, about "the need... for early adoption of measures to help people and their possible evacuation."
Rising water levels in the Ural River caused storms that forced more than 4,000 people, including 885 children, to leave the area, the government said on Sunday. On Monday, Tass said that about 10,000 homes, including about 7,000 in Orsk, were flooded, and the water level in the city is still rising. Video from Orsk and Orenburg showed that water was partly covering homes and other buildings, as well as areas nearby. Russia's government declared a federal emergency on Sunday in flood-damaged parts of Orenburg. The government is also getting ready for possible floods in three other areas, according to state media. There is now a criminal investigation into possible building code violations that may have led the dam to break.
After the protest, Tass said that Denis Pasler, the governor of the Orenburg region, promised people who had to leave their homes that they would get about $108 a month for six months. The regional government told the AP on Sunday that the storm should have caused about $227 million in damage. On Sunday, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said that Putin had talked with the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the heads of the Kurgan and Tyumen regions, both of which are in the Ural Mountains, about "the need... for early adoption of measures to help people and their possible evacuation."
