In photos: A tornado tears through Russia’s Urals, injuring 16

A tornado struck the Sverdlovsk region on the evening of June 22, first touching down in the village of Malaya Laya. “Everything was ripped away. It’s heading for us!” witnesses say in one video posted on social media. The tornado then intensified and bore down on the city of Kushva, which sustained the worst damage. The Emergency Situations Ministry reported that 99 private residential homes in Kushva — a city of about 27,000 — were damaged, 32 of them destroyed outright. Sixteen people were injured; one was transported to Nizhny Tagil with a broken arm. Downed power lines left several thousand customers without electricity, and water service was also cut.

Gas supplies in Kushva were shut off as a precautionary measure. Authorities declared a state of emergency and opened a temporary shelter for displaced residents. Local community groups called on residents to help clear the streets, as municipal services could not manage on their own.

Meteorologists are warning that similar events could strike regions where they have historically been rare, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reports. Scientists attribute the trend to a rise in extreme atmospheric activity, which is producing more powerful thunderstorms and intensifying squalls and heavy rainfall.

Meduza is publishing photos and videos of the aftermath of the tornado in the Sverdlovsk region.