Eastern Ukraine: "We Burn Wood Inside Our Apartments to Warm Up"

The situation in Krasnohorivka and in Mariinka, situated near Donetsk and controlled by the Ukrainian army, seems to be even worse than in Avdiivka. The towns’ outskirts are often shelled.

People in these towns have no gas since the pipeline was broken. They use potbelly stoves or electric heaters to warm up in their apartments. A few days ago, a pensioner and a child died in Mariinka as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The pipeline was broken in 2014, Krasnohorivka, Ukraine, 02/02/2017

Moreover, during the last days, locals suffer from the increased shelling. Schools were closed a week ago in Krasnohorivka, where 10,000 people live. The population of Mariinka is half as much. 70% of buildings there are damaged.

Hromadkse’s correspondents met a mother with two children in the town. They were cutting trees. They do this to heat their house; here, in Krasnohorivka, people burn wood right inside their apartments.

Mother and children cutting trees to warm up their house. Krasnohorivka, Ukraine, 02/02/2017

Roman Korzhov, the deputy head of the Civic Military Administration of Krasnohorivka Region also warms up with a potbelly stove.

“We have no gas for 3 years now. Before the war started, the town almost completely switched to gas-powered heating. Everyone in the private sector who had houses threw away stoves and bought gas-boilers,” he says.

Locals live in buildings with no windows and big holes in the walls. Some apartments are empty – their owners have left.

“They’ve been firing for three days – from both sides. We don’t sleep at night. Thank God there is electricity. Not everyone has water because it was frozen. We still have no gas, and we will not have it. Everybody will be fine. There is no catastrophe,” said a woman.

Locals live in buildings with no windows and big holes in the walls. Krasnohorivka, Ukraine, 02/02/2017

"We had the same in 2014 when we were “showered” with the DNR’s GRAD rocket launcher shells… Russian-owned. I’m very sorry for Avdiivka residents," said another woman from Krasnohorivka.

In Mariinka, two people died because of carbon monoxide poisoning - a disabled pensioner and a child.

The head of the Civic Military Administration of Mariinka Region Oleksandr Teslya says people try to get home before dark.

“They try to be at home at 2-3 pm. It starts very fast – one fire, and then it becomes very hot here,” he says.

The video will be available soon.