In Moscow, a spokesman for city health services said five people died overnight in the capital, where temperatures hit minus 30 C (minus 22 F) for the second day. Interfax news agency earlier said seven people had died -- five on the streets and two in hospitals -- as a result of the cold.

The latest deaths brought to at least 16 the number of people who have died on the streets of Moscow and to at least 62 the number who have succeumbed throughout Russia since the cold snap began Monday night, though reporting of deaths outside the capital has been sporadic and most likely incomplete.

Another eight people, most of them homeless, died overnight in the northwest Russian region of Novgorod, where temperatures sank to minus 38 C (minus 36 F), RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

More than 100 people required medical treatment as a result of exposure to the cold and of those around 60 were hospitalized, many of them suffering from frostbitten noses and ears because they were not properly protected.

The Moscow city administration called on residents to insulate windows and doors in their apartments to prevent the escape of heat and conserve energy, media said.

Burst hot water pipes and heat-producing boilers were reported at a number of sites in Moscow and throughout Russia and public utilities crews were working to restore heat and hot water to affected residents.

Power blackouts were reported in 12 communities in the greater Moscow region, Interfax news agency said, adding that authorities had decided to extend a "strict" energy conservation regime at least through the weekend due to the persistent freeze.

In the northern city of Saint Petersburg, authorities said 41 power outages were reported.

The head of Russia's UES electricity monopoly, Anatoly Chubais, said energy consumption in the Moscow region broke a record on Thursday, climbing to 16,000 megawatts, ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

He said measures were being taken, including power rationing to some facilities, to ensure that the electricity grid was able to meet challenges next week, when the cold was anticipated to continued.

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