Mayor of Moscow announces plan to put a freeze on snow in the city

It defeated Napoleon and Hitler, but the legendary Russian winter is facing a formidable new challenge from the Mayor of Moscow, who wants to stop it from snowing. Yuri Luzhkov has said that snow should be banished from Moscow in winter to save money and improve life in the city. He claimed that farmers outside the capital would enjoy more abundant harvests if his cloud-seeding programme was adopted. Mr Luzhkov noted that city authorities already used such techniques to break up rain clouds and guarantee good weather on important public holidays, such as the annual May 9 parade celebrating victory in the Second World War. "Why don't we keep this snow outside the Moscow city limits?" he said. "For the countryside, this means more moisture and bigger harvests. And for us, less snow." A snowless Moscow would be hard to imagine for anyone raised on romantic images of fur-clad Russians in winter-white landscapes. Mr Luzhkov, however, has had a habit of getting his way in Moscow as mayor since 1992.