July 9 declared day of mourning in Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - President Vladimir Putin has declared July 9 a day of mourning in Russia for the victims of a bus crash in Ukraine and devastating floods in the southern Krasnodar region that killed at least 164 Russian nationals, the Kremlin press office said.

“Cultural organizations and state-run television channels, have been recommended to refrain from entertainment programs,” the press office said in a statement, according to RIA Novosti.

Under the presidential decree, state flags in Russia and in its overseas missions will be flown half-mast on July 9.

Russia’s worst in decades floods, triggered by heavy rainfalls, ravaged several cities and residential areas in the southern Krasnodar region on Friday night, killing at least 150 people. Over 5,000 homes were flooded in the region as a result of the disaster.

The floods have disrupted power, gas and water supply lines, automobile and rail communication. Unconfirmed reports say the floods killed 155 people.

In another accident, fourteen people were killed after a bus carrying 43 pilgrims from Russia’s Pskov Region to Ukraine’s Pochayiv Lavra (large monastery) in the Chernigov province in northern Ukraine swerved off the road on Saturday and crashed into a ditch.