MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti) – The Donbas region is currently under epidemic threat with almost half a million people left without water, Russian lawmaker Olga Kovitidi said Monday.
“436,000 people are left without water, the epidemiological situation is critical, the region is under threat of an epidemic,” Kovitidi, a Crimea’s representative in Russia’s upper house of parliament (Federation Council) claimed during the meeting of a Social Committee for the Support of the south-east Ukrainians.
The forecasts say the weather in the region will stay hot with maximum 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit) temperature. Earlier, the website of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) reported that a range of water purification plants and waste treatment facilities had stopped functioning, with several towns lacking water supply at all.
The senator believes it’s crucial to declare a truce in the south-east Ukraine in order to organize humanitarian routes and aid the local population. Kovitidi noted that the Crimean authorities are ready to help rehabilitate regional infrastructure.
DPR’s Moscow representative Andrei Rodkin pointed that the DPR administration is ready for a truce for the sake of providing humanitarian aid, but only in case Kiev halts military action.
The delegates from Russia’s Belgorod region, bordering with Ukraine, have introduced a plan of aid for refugees. The head of a coordinating group for the placement of refugees on the territory of Belgorod region, Yelena Batanova specified that 500-1,500 Ukrainians cross the Russian border daily. Over 5,000 refugees have decided to stay in Russia, and 3,700 of them have received Russian documents.
