Residents of Makhachkala in southern Russias republic of Dagestan late Wednesday barricaded the city center following three days of blackouts.Locals blocked traffic with wooden pallets, which police officers were seentaking away later in the evening, as shown in footage shared by the state broadcaster Dagestan.Three days without electricity! Were choking! shouted one elderly protester.The Dagestan regions energy minister, Marat Shikhaliyev, was shown telling the angry crowd that both he and the municipal utility company Dagenergo were to blame for the crisis.Dagestan region Governor Sergei Melikovaccused protesters of playing into the hands of Russias perceived enemies and threatened legal action against protesters if they continued their demonstration.Melikov said the regional power grid has not been renovated over the past 30 years.He vowed to fix the underlying issues in several years, saying he had asked Russias federal government in Moscow to fund the power grid's restoration.Melikov said hot weather caused the rolling blackouts, while Russias Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov blamed chaotic multi-story [apartment] construction and illegal connections to the overworked grid.Krasnovordered the restoration of power and "sorting out" the causes of the mass outages.