A persistent spell of extreme cold kept Russia in thrall on Thursday, causing more deaths among people stranded on frigid streets but failing to freeze the spirits of thousands who plunged into ice water for an annual ritual marking a Russian Orthodox Christian holiday.
With the mercury dropping low and electricity use reaching record highs, the government struggled to keep homes warm and factories running while maintaining exports of natural gas -- a sensitive issue after Russia's image was damaged when a dispute with Ukraine decreased deliveries to Europe.
Fuel and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said Russia was considering releasing part of its strategic fuel reserve, and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said the government was helping state-controlled gas monopoly OAO Gazprom meet its obligations.
In Moscow, shivering through its fourth day of a cold snap, temperatures dropped to minus 31 degrees Celsius (minus 24 F) overnight -- the lowest recorded on January 19 since 1927, said Tatyana Pozdnyakova, a Moscow weather forecasting service official.
Seven people died of exposure in the capital over the previous 24 hours, Moscow ambulance service chief Igor Elkis said. At least 31 people have died in European Russia since the cold weather swept into the capital late Monday from Siberia.
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With the mercury dropping low and electricity use reaching record highs, the government struggled to keep homes warm and factories running while maintaining exports of natural gas -- a sensitive issue after Russia's image was damaged when a dispute with Ukraine decreased deliveries to Europe.
Fuel and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said Russia was considering releasing part of its strategic fuel reserve, and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said the government was helping state-controlled gas monopoly OAO Gazprom meet its obligations.
In Moscow, shivering through its fourth day of a cold snap, temperatures dropped to minus 31 degrees Celsius (minus 24 F) overnight -- the lowest recorded on January 19 since 1927, said Tatyana Pozdnyakova, a Moscow weather forecasting service official.
Seven people died of exposure in the capital over the previous 24 hours, Moscow ambulance service chief Igor Elkis said. At least 31 people have died in European Russia since the cold weather swept into the capital late Monday from Siberia.
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