LUHANSK, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Nine coal mines have been temporarily closed and 3,000 miners have been evacuated in Ukraine's eastern region of Luhansk due to the threat of a power outage, leaving no working mines in the region, a local news portal CityNews reported on Sunday.
"The mining had to be stopped and people brought to the surface because two high-voltage power lines that belong to Ukrenergo have been damaged as a result of military action," the report said.
"A total of 3,000 people were evacuated. Until the threat of the power being cut off is extinguished, the mines will work in the life-support regime (ventilation and unwatering)," the report said.
Four other mines have already suspended work in the Luhansk Region since July 11, after the death of miners following a bus explosion and due to the ongoing military action near the enterprise.
Kiev authorities launched a special military operation in eastern Ukraine in mid-April in a crackdown on the independence movement. The fighting intensified after Donetsk and Luhansk regions proclaimed themselves independent people’s republics. Hundreds of people, including civilians have died in both regions over the past months.
Moscow has described the ongoing military action as a punitive operation and has repeatedly called on Kiev to put an immediate end to the bloodshed. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has also urged the international community to intervene and investigate the crimes against humanity that occurred in Ukraine in recent months.
