REUTERS
Mortar rounds fired by Russian-backed insurgents from the village of Vesela Hora have damaged a pipeline heat and hot water in the town of Shastya, leaving residents without heat and hot water, according to the official Web site of Hennadiy Moskal, the governor of Luhansk Regional State Administration.
Repair crews are now working to restore heat to the whole town, the administration said.
"We had to release water from the central heating system to prevent it freezing," the governor said.
"During the previous lull in hostilities, the maintenance crews were able to repair a distribution manifold and started the process of [returning] the heat. This afternoon the heating should have been restored in the town, but shell damage at night on the heating pipeline resulted in this being postponed. Now the maintenance crews are trying to repair the damage, and the town is still without heat and hot water," Moskal said.