600k could face severe water crisis in eastern Ukraine
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has warned that about 600,000 impoverished people in eastern Ukraine could face a severe water and power crisis this winter following a move by Kiev to cut off supplies.
Alexander Hug of the OSCE's special monitoring mission for Ukraine said on Friday that the situation was becoming dire for people in the east of Ukraine, especially as sub-zero temperatures prevail in the country.
"Urgent steps needed as 600,000 people in the Lugansk region (are) at risk of being left without water, electricity and heating," Hug said in a message posted on Twitter.
The parts of Lugansk that are held by pro-Russians receive nearly 20 percent of their water from Kiev-controlled areas of Ukraine and occasional humanitarian aid from Russia.
Two Ukrainian firms that have been providing the region with water have cut off supplies allegedly due to their failure to pay their own electricity bills.
In October, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it would pay Lugansk's debt to Kiev. However, the ICRC called it "a stop-gap measure, not a sustainable solution."
The official news agency of Lugansk reported that Kiev had stopped supplying portions of the region with water on Thursday.
Kiev has also threatened to stop the electricity supplies to the region if authorities there do not cover unpaid bills in the coming days.
In April 2014, the government in Kiev launched military operations in Donbass, which includes the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, to crack down on ethnic Russians in the area who are against the Ukrainian rule.
The move then turned into a full-fledged armed conflict, which has left some 10,000 people dead, according to the United Nations.
Talks aimed at reaching a viable ceasefire have failed numerous times.
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