In Photos: St. Petersburg Grapples With Ice-Covered Streets

 

 

People walk on a snowdrift on Palace Square in the city center.

Anatoly Maltsev / EPA / TASS

 

In Photos: St. Petersburg Grapples With Ice-Covered Streets

 

The Moscow Times

Jan. 20, 2022 - 14:26

 

 

St. Petersburg residents have seen the most ice coverage on their streets and sidewalks in years this week.

 

Hundreds of people have landed in the hospital after slipping and falling, while local authorities face criticism for failing to deal with the situation.

Here's a look at Russia's ice-covered northern capital:

 

Since Jan. 14, around 100 citizens have been hospitalized daily due to injuries caused by falling on icy pavement.

Sergey Yermokhin / TASS

Videos that quickly went viral on social media show locals switching out their winter boots for ice skates as they left their house for work or to pick up some groceries.

Sergey Yermokhin / TASS

Elizavetinskaya Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the city of almost 6 million people, marked an all-time record in the number of patients who sought treatment after falling on the ice.

Sergey Yermokhin / TASS

This winter, several Russian cities broke decades-old snowfall records.

Anatoly Maltsev / EPA / TASS

Media reports have said the icy roads and sidewalks were exacerbated by understaffing in street cleaning and other communal services under Governor Alexander Beglov's administration.

Sergey Yermokhin / TASS

St. Petersburg residents have been seen ice skating both on the streets and on the frozen surface of the Neva River.

 

While it’s common to see residents move to the “real ice,” this can be dangerous due to rapid changes in river currents and temperature fluctuations.

Andrei Chepakin / TASS

Winters in Russia and around the world are changing due to the climate crisis, with snowfall and temperature fluctuations becoming increasingly volatile.

In Russia, this can be seen as record amounts of snow melt and then freeze again into ice.

Anatoly Maltsev / EPA / TASS