Russian motorists in Moscow are snowed in with heavy snow

HEAVY snow storms northwest of Moscow are leaving thousands of motorists stranded, some for two days, on the major M-10 highway that links the capital to St Petersburg 700 kilometres away and stretches to the border with Finland.

Field kitchens have been set up on the road by police in the Tver region, but many drivers have been complaining that the supplies are not reaching them and that they were running out of fuel to keep their engines running and the heating on in sub-zero temperatures, reports Reuters.

"Drivers help one another and that's it, the problems are on the side of the authorities. There are no gasoline tankers, no water, nothing, we are just stuck here," a truck driver who identified himself as Sergei told Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Reports estimated the traffic jam stretched from 40 km to 200 km at different times on Sunday. One man told the state broadcaster he had advanced one kilometre over the previous 24 hours.

"The reach of the traffic jam at present is no longer than 55 km and is gradually falling," Interfax news agency quoted a police official as saying on Sunday evening.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dispatched Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov to Tver to assess the situation, and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has been ordered to report to Mr Medvedev measures to end the jam and help stranded motorists.

It is not the first time that Russian authorities have come under fire for their sluggish response to weather-related problems, including the deadly wildfires in 2010 and flooding in the south this summer.