Officials in St. Petersburg have reassured panicked citizens after reports that the city was preparing wartime bread rations.
The stories surfaced after St.
Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko signed a decree to stockpile
flour at the St. Petersburg Food Storage Facility.
According to the document, the city's supplies must guarantee its 5.2 million citizens at least 300 grams of bread for 20 days, the Fontanka news outlet reported Monday.
“We set up the St. Petersburg Food
Storage Facility to ensure the city's food security,” local
officials told Fontanka. “It was created to stabilize the flour
market and avoid price spikes. It has nothing to do with wartime
preparations.”
Civil defense drills took place across Russia last week, involving some 40 million people countrywide. The annual drills, which test emergency contingency plans, have been held since 2012.
