Problems are piling up in Sochi, where Russia is preparing without sacrificing resources for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Less than five months before the event (February 7 to 24), the station set up along the Sea Noire is threatened for its security and, since Wednesday, for the state of its soil, its roads and the colossal Olympic projects.
Safety, first. At the end of last week, several international experts in the fight against terrorism pointed out the danger represented by the rebels from the Caucasus who had gone to fight in Syria. According to Grigori Chvedov, the editor-in-chief of a specialized site, “fighters from Russia are currently gaining experience of urban warfare in Syria. The rebels here do not have this experience. If they come back from Syria and organize themselves, it will be extremely dangerous.” The journalist specifies: “Sochi is quite vulnerable to this type of operation, to an attack coming from groups trained in Syria for fighting in urban environments, despite all the measures announced regarding the security of the Olympic Games. »
Another concern, more tangible, and above all more immediate: the future Olympic city is currently submerged under masses of water, causing floods and landslides. A situation so serious that a state of emergency was declared in Sochi.
According to a Reuters photographer present in the seaside resort, the water rose to knee-deep in certain areas of the Olympic city, causing huge traffic jams. A highway leading to several future Olympic sites has disappeared under 2,5 meters of water that emergency services are currently trying to drain. The inhabitants of Kepcha, a village close to this road and threatened with being buried by a landslide, were evacuated. Rain is expected to fall all week, according to national weather forecasts. There are even plans to use drones to monitor the situation.
Less than 140 days before the Winter Games, the indicators are red. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, continues to insist that the 2014 Olympics will be those of all superlatives. And no one in Russia still deigns to keep the accounts of an event whose bill is expected to reach, or even exceed, 50 billion dollars.
But Alexander Zhukov, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, assured public television that Sochi would be ready. At the moment, most of the city and the Olympic Village resemble a huge, very muddy construction site. Unfortunately, inspectors from the IOC 2014 Games Coordination Commission are currently in Sochi. A tenth and final visit carried out with our feet in the water.
