Avdiyivka residents have been left without water, electricity, heating / Photo from UNIAN
An attack on the Ukrainian controlled town of Avdiyivka late on Monday has left nearly 34,000 residents cut off the power grids along with a halt to the heat and water supply amid frosts forecast at 20 degrees Celsius below zero at night, according to local authorities.
"Russian proxies have just damaged a power line feeding Avdiyivka. A filtration station and a chemical plant's power generation unit, which used to provide Avdiyivka with heat, have been de-energized. The town has been left without water, electricity, heating," Pavlo Zhebrivsky, the chairman of Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk military and civilian administration, wrote on Facebook on Monday, January 30.
In this connection, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who was on a working visit to Germany, had to cut short his stay, presidential press secretary Svyatoslav Tsegolko tweeted on the same day.
"The president has cut short his visit to Germany because Russian fighters' attacks on Avdiyivka have caused an emergency situation, which may turn into a humanitarian disaster," Tsegolko wrote on Twitter.
Read alsoEscalation near Avdiyivka: 2 KIA, 5 WIA Monday morningAs UNIAN reported earlier, the combined Russian-separatists forces repeatedly attacked Ukrainian positions in Avdiyivka's industrial zone on January 29, the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) headquarters said. The enemy had to retreat after they had sustained losses.
The Ukrainian intelligence unit reported that the ATO forces eliminated 15 fighters in Avdiyivka's industrial zone on Sunday, January 29. Twenty-four fighters were wounded in action.