Deep freeze across Russia dips to 50 below, dozens die

[NewsCaster]

Valery Titievsky / AFP - Getty ImagesA woman walking in Novosibirsk, a city in Russia's Siberia, reflects the cold there on Wednesday. Temperatures dipped to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit -- and the wind chill made it feel like minus 47.By Miguel Llanos, NBC NewsAmericans feeling their first wintry blast of the season on Wednesday could take some comfort from this: In Moscow it felt like 10 below – part of a week-long cold spell across Russia that has parts of Siberia feeling like 50 below.

Across Russia, the deep freeze killed at least 45 people over the last week, 21 on Tuesday alone, the English-language Moscow Times reported Wednesday. Nearly 270 people were hospitalized, more than half with frostbite.

Russia's emergency ministry urged everyone in Moscow to stay indoors on Wednesday, while forecasters said the cold could get worse over the weekend.

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