Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are without heating thanks to a long-standing dispute between the national gas company and regional utility providers.
More than 600,000 residents in Kryvy Rih in Ukraine’s south-east seized the building of the local gas company demanding that the heating be turned on, with temperatures falling below zero at night.
In the town of Smila, in central Ukraine, residents have blocked roads leading into town, demanding that authorities provide heating.
Opposition MP Oleh Lyashko said last week that at least six towns with a combined population of more than one million remain without heating.
The trouble comes after national gas company Naftagaz raised prices which some struggling municipalities said were impossibly high for them to pay.
