You're reading: Luhansk governor reports heavy bombardments at night

Cities, towns and villages in Luhansk region had never been under artillery fire so intensive since the start of the conflict in eastern Ukraine as they were between Jan. 23 night and Jan. 24 morning, Regional Governor Hennadiy Moskal has said.

“An especially difficult, even critical, situation took shape in Stanytsia Luhanska. There was unceasing fire from artillery, mortars and Grads (Grad multiple rocket launchers) throughout the night. There were just short intervals of between 20 and 30 minutes,” a statement from the regional administration quoted Moskal as saying.

“Dozens of houses in the village have been damaged or destroyed, and some are still burning,” Moskal said. He said permanent shelling was preventing rescue and fire teams from reaching the village.

“There is no electricity, gas, water or heat in Stanytsia Luhanska. There is a critical situation in the Kondrashivka neighborhood, which is under particularly heavy fire,” the statement said.

Moskal said those remaining in Stanytsia Luhanska would be unable to leave the village.

It was not yet possible to count possible casualties or find out how much housing was destroyed.

The town of Shchastia was also bombarded heavily during the night, with the final attack coming around 6:45 a.m., Moskal said. “Grads and artillery were used… Houses were destroyed or damaged on three streets in the central part. The owner of one of them … a 58-yead-old woman, was killed under the debris of one of them,” Moskal said.

Shchastia’s heat and power plant remained undamaged, but broken transmission lines had left half the town without electricity. “Shells have smashed the central collector, and so a large part of Shchastia has been left without central heating,” the governor said.