The Russians were told: Pray to God and run away

The Russians were told: Pray to God and run away

Newsweek reported the writing of the Russian channel "I can explain" on Telegram, which states that local authorities hide the addresses of air raid shelters from the public and fix them only for government officials and members of the ruling party of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A year after the mayor issued a decree to make air raid shelters available to the public, most of Moscow's bomb shelters remain unusable, many long since abandoned, while some have been rented out as commercial space.

The deputy of the Moscow City Duma, Sergei Mitrokhin, said that, although there are many shelters in the capital, "no one knows what their condition is and where they are." No signs, no identifying marks. If the Ministry of Emergency Situations carries out some works in this direction, then it is, of course, throwing dust in the eyes".

It is recalled, however, that the Kremlin issued a decree in October 2022, ordering regions in western Russia to prepare for the possibility of an attack on Russian territory, but also that Russia blamed Ukraine for a major drone attack on Moscow in May.

After that attack, it emerged that Putin had ordered the construction of a new bomb shelter in the country's most elite hospital, where high-ranking officials are being treated.

The Kremlin has ordered bomb shelters to be upgraded throughout Russia, but it seems that Muscovites still do not have defense structures to protect them from drone attacks, writes "I can explain" and adds that only one shelter in a residential building was repaired last year, and it houses the local branch of the ruling United Russia party.

They also say that they tried to collect the addresses of bomb shelters in the city, although the actual addresses of the shelters or their numbers are state secrets. Some information can only be obtained in person from Moscow emergency centers twice a week.

"In every district, there is an emergency response center where people should be told what to do in various emergency situations. In practice, these points have very exotic working hours, they do not talk to people there and assure them that there is no danger.

The right of citizens to have information is not respected," said Ivan Drobotov, civil activist and author of the "Moscow Bombing Shelters" channel on Telegram.

Activists who asked to remain anonymous said that when asked about the availability of shelter in the city, they were advised to "trust in God", "buy a farmhouse" or "leave the city".