The city of Severomorsk, where the headquarters of the Russian Northern Fleet is located on Kola Bay in the Barents Sea, is home to Russia's most important naval command.
This is the place that controls Russia's largest ballistic missile submarine fleet as well as a huge arsenal of nuclear warheads, missiles and repair workshops.
Murmansk Governor Andrei Chibis said that on the evening of January 23, the cities of Murmansk and Severomorsk were out of power due to a collapsed power pole. There are still some houses in Severomorsk without electricity and heating systems until January 25.
There are 5 power poles, 2 of which are nearly 60 years old, about 7km from Murmansk that collapsed on January 23, local media reported.
According to the online news site Severomorsk, 2 collapsed power poles were erected in 1966, 2 poles from 1982 and 1 power pole from 1988.
Mr. Vladimir Evmenkov - head of Severomorsk - said that ships of the Northern Fleet anchored in Severomorsk have been switched to automatic operation to release capacity.
Russia's closed cities like Severomorsk, often located around large defense or nuclear facilities, are much more strictly controlled than most other places. Entry and exit are controlled and requiring special permits to visit.
