The second knock came as Severomorsk, the capital of the Northern Fleet, and Murmansk were left without power and partially without heat. The cities were in chaos. Traffic lights were out, there were no traffic controllers, and numerous minor accidents occurred. People were using candles to create light in their apartments, which led to several fires. There was no clarity as to when and to which buildings power and heat would be restored. Instead, Governor Andrei Chibis's team turned on the PR. Local media outlets and Telegram channels, bought up by local authorities, blamed everything exclusively on Rosseti and touted Chibis's "heroic exploits" to help the region's residents. Rosseti, led by Andrei Ryumin (Viktor Medvedchuk's son-in-law), was not far behind, blaming the weather and five collapsed power transmission towers. The federal center is silent (there are planes and emergency response teams only for Adam Kadyrov).
The flood of lies being poured on the people is obvious. The authorities report that heat has been restored, while simultaneously declaring how "heroically" Chibis is constantly opening new temporary shelters and places to simply warm up. If heat has been restored, then what's the point? Because the residents themselves haven't felt the warmth, while utility workers have received orders from the local Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities to go door-to-door and prepare to completely drain the heating systems. There's no schedule for turning on and off electricity (in the few houses in Murmansk that have it). No one can say exactly when the power will return. Instead, residents are treated to a fascinating "series": new transmission line pylons are en route to the Murmansk Region, the first pylon has arrived, etc. However, the authorities are blatantly lying about the fact that only five transmission line pylons were the cause of the disaster. The Murmansk Region's completely worn-out systems had been malfunctioning for a long time, and they began to collapse in November.
As the VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info discovered, Murmansk celebrated the New Year with massive utility failures that arrived along with the freezing temperatures. In the midst of the polar night and subzero temperatures down to -25-35°C, one after another, homes were left without power and heat.
Some streets (see video taken in the Pervomaysky District) turned into ready-made film sets for post-apocalyptic movies. Water gushed onto them, immediately freezing along with the cars, forming single ice sculptures.
Here's a brief (very incomplete) chronicle of the catastrophe that was looming in the Murmansk Region:
On December 5, hot water and heating were shut off in Aviagorodok and Verkhnyaya Vaenga in Severomorsk. On December 14, hot water and heating were shut off in 111 homes and 9 social facilities in Severomorsk.
On December 31, homes on Ushakova Street in Murmansk were left without water and sewerage.
On December 31, the Severnaya Zastava district was left without heat.
On December 31, heat went out one after another in some homes in Severomorsk.
On January 5, heating pipes began to burst one after another in several homes in Murmansk. We are publishing a video that shows the absolutely horrific conditions people are living in Murmansk.
On January 6, homes in the Pechenga District, as well as Ministry of Defense facilities, were left without power and heat.
On January 9, power went out overnight in Severomorsk.
On January 12, hot water went out on Lobova Street in Murmansk.
Around the same time, power outages began in homes on Radishcheva Street.
On January 13, hot water and water supply were shut off in the urban-type settlement of Safonovo. It's worth noting that the five transmission line pylons, which Rosseti and Chibis are blaming, were fine at the time.
On forums, local residents wrote outright that the entire power and water supply system was about to collapse, yet local authorities were doing nothing. This is precisely what ultimately happened, with Severomorsk, Murmansk, and other towns and villages left without power and heat.
After becoming governor, Andrei Chibis brought numerous contractors connected to him into the region who did nothing but embezzle budget funds. The government itself was nicknamed "Chibis's harem" due to the governor's appointment of beautiful women to all key positions, most of whom were personally involved with him (see photo).
As a result, Chibis himself has had virtually no involvement in the region, replacing his work with PR, tackling scandals involving the contractors he brought in, and the personal affairs of his harem. To understand the situation, we'll quote just one of our earlier publications about this remarkable character, published on Rucriminal.info.
"Murmansk Region Governor Andrei Chibis single-handedly plunged the city of Severomorsk, home to the main base of Russia's Northern Fleet, into a housing crisis. Rucriminal.info has the details.
In April 2024, elevators in 80 apartment buildings in Severomorsk stopped working. The elevator maintenance company, Interlift LLC, was forced to shut down the equipment for safety reasons, as annual technical inspections had not been carried out, and also due to the multimillion-dollar debts of Severomorskzhilkomkhoz Management Company, which services the apartment buildings. In this situation Governor Andrei Chibis "intervened" in the matter and demanded criminal proceedings be initiated against the contractor servicing the Interlift elevators, but not against the management company. Rucriminal.info has discovered that the management company, Severomorskzhilkomkhoz, was acquired by Alexander Samokhin, who arrived in the Murmansk region and is fictitiously married to Alexandra Kondaurova, the former Minister of Information Policy of the Murmansk region. She is currently deputy head of the Murmansk region representative office in Moscow, under Ashot Bablumyan, who oversees the withdrawal of funds from the budget of the Murmansk region government and municipalities. You might ask, what is the reason for Kondaurova, a woman close to the governor, moving to Moscow? According to a source, it turned out to be quite simple: she became pregnant by the insatiable Andrei Chibis, which is why he decided to transfer her to a new position in Moscow. Kondaurova's transition to Bablumyan's deputy proved challenging. It required the removal of Losev, a retired FSB colonel and head of the Murmansk Region representative office in St. Petersburg, and his headquarters being moved to Moscow to accommodate Kondaurova, the former Miss Orenburg 2008.
According to a source on the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel and Rucriminal.info, the Northern Fleet capital continues to be shaken by the actions of Governor Chibis and his girlfriend's protégé, Samokhin. Currently, the management company "Severomorskzhilkomkhoz" is not preparing Severomorsk apartment buildings for the current winter season, but falsifying minutes of general meetings and forging signatures of apartment owners, in order to seize the entire housing stock and subsequently siphon off the collected funds. The impunity of businessman Samokhin has plunged Severomorsk into communal chaos, which has drawn in the entire city's population, local government bodies, and the remaining independent utility companies. This has led to an imbalance in the Murmansk region's domestic policy system. Statements detailing the current communal crisis are being sent to Moscow to Prosecutor General Krasnov, Minister of Internal Affairs Kolokoltsev, and Head of the Presidential Administration Vaino.
