Russian capital Moscow covered by record 63cm snowfall

Thousands of snow-clearing machines have been working to dig the Russian capital Moscow out of a record-breaking fall of 63cm (nearly 25 inches).

After a weekend of heavy snow showers, the regional weather centre announced that the previous record of 62cm, set in 1966, had been broken.

Snow ploughs were due to make three clean sweeps of the city on Monday.

Drivers were asked to leave their cars at home but rail services are said to have been unaffected by the weather.

A Moscow railway spokesman said that 4,471km (2,778m) of track had been cleared of snow on Sunday.

In all, about 15,000 snow-clearing machines were deployed in the city of about 10.5 million people, backed by 8,500 dump trucks and about 5,500 street-sweeping personnel.

Monday's three scheduled sweeps were due to take place at 1000 (0700 GMT), 1300 and 1700.

A police source told Interfax news agency that Muscovites had largely heeded calls to avoid driving and there had been no significant increase in traffic accidents.

Weather forecasters were predicting that the snow would die out overnight, with Tuesday set to be a clear day.

Chernovetsky сalls on citizens to inform city call centre about icicles on building roofs that threaten their health

Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky is calling on citizens to inform the city's call centre about icicles on the roofs of buildings if they pose a threat to their health.

Ukrainian News learned this from the press service of the Kyiv municipal administration.

"This a very serious question, so I'm taking it under my personal control. I appeal to all Kyivans not to be indifferent and call me personally 15-51 and notify about revealed icicles. I promise you immediate response," the press service quotes the mayor as saying.

He also instructed district state administrations to step up work on removing icicles and fence areas dangerous for pedestrians around with warning tape.

The press service of the Kyiv municipal administration told Ukrainian News that falling icicles have injured four people in Kyiv in the past three days.

An emergency meeting of the operational headquarters on emergency situations has been convened to discuss the problem of icicles.

During the meeting, the Kyiv municipal administration's first deputy head Anatoliy Holubchenko instructed the municipal administration's main department of housing to hire professional steeplejacks and provide them with the equipment necessary to remove icicles from the roofs of buildings.

"I am calling on the heads of all districts to urgently telephone and write the managements of the buildings that are not owned by the municipal authorities... All the entities that have buildings on their books should be informed of the need to remove icicles from roofs as well as about the responsibility for improper maintenance of the buildings under their control. It is necessary to work with the residents of the apartments where access to balconies are difficult. In addition, all the dangerous places near buildings should be sealed off with warning tapes, and I particularly request that Kyiv residents walk around such zones," Holubchenko said.

In case of problems, Kyiv residents can call the Kyiv Rescue Service by the telephone number 430-37-13 or the Kyiv municipal administration's main department of emergency situations by the telephone number 430-50-10.

In addition, the Kyiv municipal administration's call center can be reached 24 hours a day via the telephone number 15-51.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Chernovetsky believes that negligent carrying of duties by chairpersons of district state administrations led to an icicle falling on a woman in the Pecherskyi district on February 17 and injuring her.

Chernovetsky called on the Kyiv prosecutors' office for holding liable those guilty of injury of the citizen