Mini SitRep Krimea and Sevastopol …. by Auslander

Yesterday and today have been difficult days, I will lay the events out by number:

1. We have roughly 60,000 guests in this city, most from Novorossiya but a good number from Kiev, Odessa, Kharkov etc. A not small number of them are getting nervous with the energy system problems which of course permeate just about every aspect of normal life. As an aside, their welcome after 18 months is wearing distinctly thin.

2. For the last two days, 25 and 26 November, petrol supplies in Krimea in general and Sevastopol in particular were seriously depleted. Many stations were out of petrol although the supplies of diesel were good. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for this shortage, we certainly are not in high tourist season and the weather is still, for the next few days, quite mild. Mr. Avakov in Simferopol took the bull by the horns and made sure adequate supplies are on the way to both Krim and Sevastopol. Our local admin jumped on the bandwagon after the fact and assured the citizens last night that all would be good, adequate supplies of all four grades of petrol would be delivered before dawn today. At least some was and the long lines at petrol stations have disappeared as of this morning.

3. Food. Some staples are in short supply, people are beginning to stock up. Buckwheat can be had but you must look for it in the smaller shops and kiosks. Fresh vegetables are plentiful although my wife said that when in the local supermarket the clerks were putting fresh quantities out and people were buying them as fast as they hit the shelves, potatoes and cabbage in particular. Canned and preserved meats and vegetables are virtually gone from shelves. There is no shortage of milk and other dairy products or meats. Sausage is selling very well, the preserved types. Fresh bread from Baker #1 across the harbor is plentiful, delivered to our side around 06:00. Hit the bread store then and your bread will be still warm from the oven. Standard loaf of fresh bread costs 18 rubles, about 25 cents and that price has not varied since late March of last year.

4. Supplies of generators are quite slim, most have been purchased by City or various city agencies. Most are petrol and most are small. Cans for petrol for the generators are hard to find, to the point people are going to the flea markets and buying 30 and more year old surplus Soviet Army jerry cans. Petrol stations will only put petrol or diesel in approved containers. It is difficult, according to friends, to find a battery powered light of any kind in this berg and candles totally sold out everywhere.

5. For most people the situation is uncomfortable. As I said, the weather is soft in our city but this will end in a week or less, temperatures will drop to near zero at night. Navy and Army are setting up comfort stations for the citizens with the aid of the fire department. In these stations you can bring your cell phones and flashlight batteries in to charge them, those who need it can get a warm meal and women with babies and young children are being encouraged to bring the children in when the weather changes to warm them, get them a good warm meal and have some time to play with other children. The stations are in proper buildings when possible, when not Army is setting up insulated and heated large tents with wood floors. For the babies there is available disposable diapers, formula and baby food.

6. Many of the traffic control lights in city do not work. This is both a boon and a curse. We went to City this afternoon and one intersection that has been a huge problem for 3 years was operating smooth as glass with no lights. Traffic is no where near as heavy as usual but in some areas it was still a little stiff. GAI is everywhere, watching, but not a damned one was directing traffic in problem areas that we saw. Things change and they never change.

7. Since we have a generator we are in process of providing a bridge to one of our neighbors for heat in his house when electric is off. The elderly babushka living behind us has a power feed to her house so she can watch TV and have a light or two when she needs it. She has the original stove build in her house and it seems that six twigs alight heat the entire small house for half a day. ‘Payment’ from the neighbor getting the bridge was to cut up enough wood for babushka to stay warm for a month.

8. The report of the first part of the power supply coming across the Kerch Straights from Krasnodar Krai are false. Expected completion is 15-20 December. The entire project is scheduled for completion by early summer next year. Ukes will never provide power to Krim regardless of the contracts and payments. Novorossiya has cut off shipments of coat to the Ukes who have screamed to EU about that situation.

9. Emergency services and hospitals are working well. All hospitals now have generators with enough power to run normal operations. Cell phone systems are generally working well. Electric supply is by schedule and announced on Channel 1 and radio. The actual supply of electricity in no way resembles the announced schedule. Internet service is a horse of a different color, down far more than up.

10. The international situations are of great import to this city, our home fleet is serving off Syria and some of the air units are local as are some of the security units for Latakya Aerodrome. Conversations with citizens are in general 50% the local power situation and 50% the war in Syria.

11. To answer some questions and raised eyebrows, I am American. After 12 years in Sevastopol, although I speak little Russian, basically just enough to get by after a fashion, I find I am using Russian style English when I speak and when I write, in other words old style British English although without the accent. I have to go over anything I write to clean it up.

Popular phrase of the day: Who will not listen to Mr. Lavrov will have no choice but to listen to Marshal Shoigu.

by Auslander Sevastopol, Krimea RF