In Voronezh, residents reported seeing inscriptions on the snow that bore the name of the city mayor, Vadim Kstenin. The mayor has a public Telegram channel where he explained that the piles of snow were gathered with the explicit purpose of being loaded and moved. He also noted that the removal would proceed regardless of whether any writing appeared on the snow or not, underscoring the practical priority of clearing the streets and keeping traffic flowing during severe weather.
Responding to the curious posts circulating on social networks and in the media, the mayor stated that he had noticed the same snow piles with his name appearing in various online discussions. He urged those who authored the inscriptions not to worry, adding a pragmatic reminder that the city would focus on clearing the streets. The message was clear: the piles—and numerous others across the city—would eventually be removed from the roadway, with operations coordinated to minimize disruption to residents and commuters alike.
Alongside the public remarks, the head of the city shared photographs showing snowdrifts bearing phrases such as riendly reminder Kstenin: where is the equipment?
and orecast: the mountain named after Kstenin.
These captions highlighted the somewhat humorous yet pointed attention that residents were giving to the snow clearance process and the logistics involved in moving large accumulations away from main streets and residential areas.
The Voronezh administration emphasized that the current spell of heavy snowfall had stretched city services to their limits. Officials explained that, at the moment, there were constraints on direct control of all weather-related challenges. Nevertheless, they reassured the public that every effort would be made to prioritize essential road safety and to repair and pave critical corridors where possible, aiming to improve travel conditions on main thoroughfares as well as on secondary routes.
In a broader regional context, reports noted that other nearby areas had also experienced structural strains due to the weight of snowfall. Earlier, a portion of an apartment building’s roof in the Tula region gave way under the accumulation of snow, illustrating the broad impact that heavy winter weather can have on housing stock and municipal infrastructure. Likewise, in Orel, another nearby city, the roof of a two-story house collapsed under the pressure of the snow load, reinforcing the need for ongoing snow removal, roof inspections, and timely repairs to prevent further incidents.