Ukrainian war-torn town faces humanitarian disaster

vdeevka, a government-controlled town in eastern Ukraine, is on verge of a humanitarian disaster as heavy shelling has damaged its public utility and infrastructure, government officials said on Tuesday.

The fighting, which entered its third day, left the town without electricity, heating and water amid the winter temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius, said Zoryan Shkiryak, an advisor to the Interior Minister. The town has a current population of some 20,000 people.

"People, who live in prefabricated apartment complexes, are ready for evacuation because it is actually impossible to survive in such buildings during low temperatures and under heavy shelling," Shkiryak wrote on Facebook.

Later in the day, Pavlo Zhebrivsky, the head of Donetsk regional military-civilian administration, said heating tents had been set up across Avdeevka, where people can get a shelter, warm food, hot tea and blankets.

Many disabled and seriously ill people have been already evacuated from the frontline town, Zhebrivsky said, adding that Avdeevka authorities are ready for a full-scale evacuation if the need arises.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it is working hard to provide Avdeevka residents with humanitarian relief assistance.

Avdeevka, which lies on the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, has been the epicentre of the renewed fighting between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents in the past few days.

Battles have renewed in eastern Ukraine during the weekend after more than a month of a relative calm. Apart from Avdeevka, fighting is underway in Donetsk and its other satellite towns, namely Makeevka and Jasynuvata. Endit