No Shelters, but Perks for Officials: The Priorities of russia’s Authorities

Shelters for ordinary people are not a priority at all for russian authorities. 67% of bomb shelters and other shelters are completely unusable in russia. Only 16% of protective structures meet requirements, while another 17% are partially usable. As a result, the responsibility for survival in russia falls on the russians themselves.

In the republic of tatarstan alone, over 40% of civil defense shelters remain unusable or inaccessible to the public. Of 838 shelters, only 443 meet regulatory requirements. The rest are closed, flooded, or in a state of disrepair. Besides, the region faces a problem with the warning system. Residents of some districts do not hear alarm signals at all. The modernization of the regional automated centralized warning system, launched in September 2023, is behind schedule and, according to preliminary estimates, will not be completed until at least 2028.

In parallel, tatarstan’s authorities have passed a law expanding social guarantees for municipal leaders. The law provides for additional vacation pay, compensation for health resort treatment, travel expenses, substantial one-time payments upon retirement, and housing subsidies. These measures will, of course, be funded from the regional budget.