Protestors block streets in southern Russia over electricity and water failures


James Kilner
Sat, 19 August 2023 

People gather at the accident scene following the fire at a fuel station in Makhachkala in the Russian region of Dagestan - Kazbek Basayev/Reuters

Protesters angered by a lack of electricity and running water have blocked streets in the capital of Dagestan in southern Russia.

Sergei Melikov, the Kremlin-installed governor of Dagestan, promised protesters in Makhachkala that he would try to fix the problems but also warned that riot police would clear the streets unless they go home.

“Such ‘forms of dialogue’ will only add to our problems,” he said. “In future, they will be suppressed according to the norms of the law.”


Eyewitnesses have said that thousands of ordinary people in Dagestan have joined the protests over unreliable water and electricity supplies. The authorities have blamed a surge in demand and accidents for failed services.

The protests in Dagestan, which began earlier this week, will likely concern the Kremlin, which increasingly views the remote Muslim-majority region on the shore of the Caspian Sea as unruly.

Analysts have said that the protests are remarkable as anti-authority demonstrations in Russia are now so rare.

The accident scene after the fire and blasts at a fuel station in Makhachkala - Kazbek Basayev/Reuters

The Kremlin has clamped down on any dissent since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year but, last September, mothers of Dagestani men mobilised into the Russian army were one of the only groups across the country to raise any major protests.

Earlier this week, at least 35 people were killed in an explosion at a petrol station in Makhachkala, triggering more protests.

Protests in Dagestan are also embarrassing for Vladimir Putin, who used a walk-about at the end of June in Derbent, a couple of hours’ drive south of Makhachkala, to demonstrate that he was still popular across the country despite a rebellion by his Wagner mercenaries.

The protests in Dagestan come days after a petrol station explosion in the region killed at least 33 people and injured more than 100 others.

They also come at a time of increased economic and social strain in Russia.

The Russian economy has started to worsen significantly as sanctions bite, the value of the rouble has plummeted, which pushes up inflation, and shortages of diesel and petrol have been reported by farmers and drive