Gas explosion in Novosibirsk, blackout in Cheboksary, and benefits cuts in Yakutia: NeMoskva's nightly digest
Last night brought a series of emergencies and high-profile political decisions across Russia's regions. In Novosibirsk, workers are dealing with the aftermath of a gas explosion in a residential building, while in Cheboksary, thousands of residents were left without power after a high-voltage power line failure. Meanwhile, in Yakutia, authorities cut social spending to increase spending on officials, and in Nizhny Novgorod, a human rights activist lost his job. We've compiled the top regional news stories of the night in our traditional "NeMoskva" digest.
Gas explosion in Novosibirsk and street closures
Two people were seriously injured in a gas explosion in a residential building in Novosibirsk, regional Governor Andrei Travnikov officially announced. The explosion sparked a massive fire, which quickly spread to the building's roof. To ensure emergency services could work smoothly and extinguish the fire, traffic police had to completely close two streets. Rescuers managed to evacuate four people from the burning building.
Astra experts: Moscow oil refinery could have been attacked by a Russian air defense missile
OSINT analysts from the independent publication Astra have concluded that the recent explosion and rupture of the dome roof of one of the storage tanks at the Moscow Oil Refinery (MOR) during a massive attack the previous day could have been caused by an accidental strike by a Russian air defense missile. Researchers captured a clear trace in video footage indicating the missile's trajectory immediately before the oil storage tank exploded. Presumably, it was fired from a Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and gun system, which was attempting to shoot down Ukrainian drones in Kapotnya.
In the Voronezh region, lights will be turned off during drone strikes.
Voronezh Region authorities have officially decided to completely shut off street lighting during drone attacks. According to a statement from the Olkhovatsky Urban Settlement administration, this measure is aimed at urgently "eliminating light reference points" for drones at night. Municipal officials promise to promptly restore power to the streets once the situation stabilizes and the aerial threat is officially lifted.
Blackout in Cheboksary after explosions
A massive power outage occurred in Cheboksary due to a fault on the high-voltage line belonging to PJSC Rosseti—Yuzhnaya-1. Prior to the outage, local residents reported loud sounds resembling explosions on social media. Following this, power was completely lost in residential buildings in the city's Southwest district, and a severe power surge occurred in other neighborhoods of Cheboksary. This surge triggered a massive fire alarm system in the city's major shopping malls.
In Yakutia, funds from disabled people and orphans were redirected to officials.
Nyurguyana Zamorshchikova, head of the New People faction in the State Assembly (Il Tumen) of Yakutia, announced a sharp reduction in social spending in the regional budget. According to her, the authorities have cut funding for key Ministry of Agriculture programs by 832 million rubles, housing for orphans by 209 million, support for large families by 200 million, and housing for people with disabilities by 66 million rubles.
At the same time, officials significantly increased their own expenses: expenses for the administration of the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, rose by 283 million rubles, while funding for the republic's permanent mission increased by exactly the same 66 million rubles that were taken from disabled people.
In Nizhny Novgorod, human rights activist Myaskovsky was fired from his job as a courier.
In Nizhny Novgorod, the popular delivery service Cooper (formerly SberMarket) abruptly blocked the work account of Ilya Myaskovsky, a well-known local human rights activist and tutor who had decided to work part-time as a courier. The activist, previously fined for "repeatedly discrediting the army," received an automatic notice of contract termination, without explanation, following a direct decision by the service's security service. Myaskovsky emphasized that his criminal record had already been officially expunged, and that the blocking by Cooper was an illegal attempt by law enforcement to deprive him of any legal means of income.
