Russia to send power to Luhansk Region as humanitarian aid

MOSCOW, Apr 25 (PRIME) – Russia will supply power to the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in Ukraine as humanitarian aid after Kiev halted transfers of power to the region, Boris Gryzlov, Russia’s representative in a trilateral contact group on Ukraine, told reporters on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry and state company Energorynok halted supplies of power to the Luhansk Region earlier on Tuesday. Local power distributor Lugansk Energy Association said that the decision was made due to debts of the region for supplied power.

“In accordance with actions of the Ukrainian authorities, the government of the Russian Federation has decided to provide power from the Russian Federation in the framework of the humanitarian support,” Gryzolv said, adding that the Luhansk Region suffers no shortages of power right now.

A source familiar with the matter told reporters that Russia acted in this way in order to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in the region.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to explain how Russia plans to provide power to the region, but called Kiev’s decision a further step in rejecting its own territories. “This is a step that contradicts the spirit of the Minsk agreements, it does not bring us closer to implementation of the Minsk agreements, it only drags us farther from the final goal,” he said.

“Of course, Russia has been doing much in the sphere of humanitarian aid, just as before, to help minimize consequences for people living in Donbass, to minimize consequences of the policy of rejecting its own lands implemented by Kiev.”

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