MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. Nearly 30,000 residential houses and more than 16,000 cottages were waterlogged in Russia as a result of this year's spring floods, with the most difficult situation taking place in the Orenburg and Omsk regions, as well as in Yakutia, Russian Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov said at a meeting led by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Since the beginning of the year, over 29,000 residential and 16,000 cottage houses, as well as over 300 low level bridges and 140 objects of social importance have been flooded in 64 Russian regions," he said.

Kurenkov noted that the situation was recognized as a federal emergency. "The Tyumen and Kurgan regions were also significantly affected," he added. The minister noted the prolonged nature of waterlogging in these regions. In particular, high water levels persisted for more than a month and in some areas exceeded critical values by several meters.

"This made living conditions for the population very hard for a very long time and led to delays in the work of assessment commissions and compensation payments," Kurenkov summarized.