MOSCOW, Jan. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia started using its state fuel reserves on Thursday to cope with soaring energy demand from households and factories during the record freeze that has gripped much of the country for a fourth day and is expected to span the whole week.

    "We are currently using as much natural gas as possible from storage facilities and wells, and we have also proposed that reserve fuel, such as fuel oil and coal, be used also," Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

    The Russian State Reserve has also started to supply fuel from its storage facilities.

    "Today, the State Reserve started to supply 60,000 tons of fuel oil to St. Petersburg," Sergei Bushuyev, spokesman for the agency, said.

    A cold front that blew in from Siberia at the beginning of the week sent the mercury dipping sharply from around the freezing mark on Monday morning to below minus 30 degrees Celsius for the last three days in much of western Russia.

    In Moscow, even winter-hardened Russians were reluctant to venture out and, if they did, covered themselves from head to toe in furry clothes. Others had difficulty jump-starting their cars with batteries frozen overnight. Traffic on the city's streets was described as light.

    At least six people have died of exposure in the capital over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of fatalities during the cold snap to at least 20 nationwide.

    Electricity consumption in Moscow and the adjacent Moscow region reached record highs and the electricity monopoly, Unified Energy Systems, enacted an emergency plan that would limit supplies for consumers such as casinos and outdoor advertising boards.

    An Interfax report said dozens of residential buildings that house 3,000 people, as well as hospitals and schools, were left without heating in the Siberian region of Chita, some 4,700 km east of Moscow.

    On Wednesday, Russian gas giant Gazprom supplied 40 percent more than contracted deliveries to domestic consumers and reduced supplies to Europe.

    The company also cut supplies to some domestic power plants, forcing them to switch to coal or heavy oil to generate electricity.

    Gazprom provides about half the gas consumed in the European Union and 80 percent of that amount is sent through pipelines that cross Ukraine.

    Ukraine said on Wednesday it had cut supplies to Europe by 40 million cubic meters a day. European countries including Hungary, Italy and Croatia reported reductions in gas flow from Russia after the cutback.

    The cold snap coincided with the Russian Orthodox holiday of Epiphany, which falls on Thursday. Traditionally, Russians celebrate the holiday by plunging into rivers and ponds to cleanse themselves with water deemed holy for the day.

    On Thursday, some Russians, brushing aside doctors' warnings, took a dive in such frigid weather. Enditem