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The real ‘Beast from the East’ - early Spring scenes from Siberia

By 0 and 0 and 0
02 March 2018

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Here schools are shut, and public transport is struggling to cope. Picture: SakhalinMedia

Countries from Britain to Italy have been hit by unseasonably cold weather accompanied by heavy snow - widely dubbed the 'Beast from the East' and blamed on ‘a storm front sweeping down from Russia’ as The Times of London puts it.

Recently our reporters have been in demand from TV and radio in Europe asking how to cope with the extreme cold. 

Sakhalin


Sakhalin


Sakhalin


Sakhalin


Sakhalin


Sakhalin

'I started skating when I was seven.' Pictures: SakhalinMedia

Meanwhile, with Spring officially underway from 1 March, Russians too are dealing with heavy snow. 

In Sakhalin, passengers had to disembark their bus to push it out of a snow drift caused by local blizzards. 

Natalia Sivokon, from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, told us: 'Everyone is in skiing outfits today. 

Passengers had to disembark their bus to push it out of a snow drift caused by local blizzards.

'Clever, as eyewear protects half of the face and even keeps make up in place by the time you reach you workplace!'

Here schools are shut, and public transport is struggling to cope. 

But in Yakutsk, colder than anywhere in Europe at -27C, all schools remain open. 

Bus stuck


Bus stuck


Bus stuck


 It took a 20 hour rescue operation to free the 38 men. Pictures: Social media

In the Arctic city of Norilsk, workers building a mine ventilation shaft got stuck by snowdrifts in a bus on their way home from work.

A blizzard with zero visibility meant there was no way forwards or back. 

It took a 20 hour rescue operation to free the 38 men.

'I started skating when I was seven.' Picture: Boris Slepnyov/Kopeyka

Winds in Norilsk are gusting at up to 20 metres per second, with temperatures at around -23C.

Some plants in the city have given their staff days off. 

Schools, however, are mainly continuing although students who have to move between districts are allowed to stay home. 

The airport, the only link to the outside world, remains open when possible.

Blizzard in Norilsk. Picture: Sergey Dokukin, Nikolay Schipko, Ksenia Nikiforuk

Snow in Norilsk


Snow in Norilsk


Snow in Norilsk


Snow in Norilsk


Snow in Norilsk

Comments (10)

We share a lot of the same weather in the Northern Canadian hemisphere. It might seem we are far away from each other but we have a lot in common including lots of snow. Yра! From our great white North to yours!
Kerry, Canada
15/05/2018 06:26
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lovely and informative website about Siberia.

I love Siberia and Russian people and president Putin who is a true wise world leader.

Russia should play active role against american imperialism.
nahktana, peshawar pakistan
30/03/2018 11:40
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Read your paper quite often and like it a lot.
as Italian I'm not able to image me to live with this cold
but ............ i would like visit Siberia one time in the summer and one time in the winter also to try how is live here in the winter
your news like me more
Vittorio, Bergamo/Italy
21/03/2018 03:38
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I , as a Scot, know that we as a nation , share many things with Russia, from our Patron Saint, to our outlook on life -including the weather, though ours is not as cold as yours! I have been reading about Russia for many years and I love the articles you share. I particularly enjoy the wildlife articles and those on archaeological finds. Please keep them coming-and remember that the UK is made up of four countries and we are all very different!
Ann Donaldson, Scotland
18/03/2018 23:00
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Read your paper quite often and like it a lot. Many years ago I had a student in my class from Magadan and one from Leningrad (St Petersburg) she liked Canada but the Leningrader just could not wait to go back home. Took my history class to Russia in 1980 and w had a great time while the local potatoes caused me of trying to convert them to Communism. We had a great time and even today when we see each other on the street we talk about going back my wife in particular. . .
Vukasin, Canada
10/03/2018 18:51
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I have never heard someone blaiming russia for the weather. Its just normal that when it gets cold here it comes from a north-east direction and warm air comes from the south.west. But to be honest people like the britains or people from bigger german cities always blame the russians. But here in my region people like the russians and dont like the current situation. The media doesnt represent the society in a suitable way.
Kránitz, Marburg
10/03/2018 13:55
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I blame climate change, which has largely been caused by the industrialised world, which inevitably means the US!
Geoff, HK
09/03/2018 14:08
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Great job to everyone in Russia taking the winter weather in stride. I empathize with William regarding the attitudes of many people in the "West". One irony is that the only thing some people in the US do not blame on Russia is the weather. Cold weather in the US tends to get blamed on Canada. So to everyone who takes winter, and I am refering to the real winter of the Northern Hemisphere as described in this article, in stride, great job to all! I love your canine companion as well and it looks like he/she is enjoying themselves...:-).
Pamela K Tetarenko, League City, USA
05/03/2018 07:35
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It is so true that Main Steam Media blame the Russians for cold weather as well. A lot of people in the West are intellectual lazy and incapable of understanding weather patterns and have no idea of geography. In western culture there is strong streak of aggressive prejudice combined with extreme complacency! I should know I have allways lived here...
Not only Siberia is cold it is cold, windy and damp here as well. If I tell people here in the west that some places of Russia is milder (Crimea and the Black Sea coast) than say Scandinavia, north Germany they think I am paid by mr. Putin himself!
William McLean, Copenhagen
04/03/2018 21:31
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Terrible!But your girls are very beautiful!
姚剑申, 巨鹿/中国
03/03/2018 14:53
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