Nine people have died in fire accidents in Ukraine over the past 24 hours, authorities said Wednesday, as Russia targets the energy infrastructure forcing Ukrainians to find alternate heating sources.
Moscow's strikes over the past few weeks have disrupted power and water to millions of people forcing many to resort to use emergency generators and gas cylinders.
The blackouts have led to a spike in accidents "due to the violation of fire safety rules", the country's state emergency service said.
Over the past 24 hours nine people were killed and another eight injured in more than 130 fires, it said in a statement.
"The number of fires and explosions in high-rise and private houses has increased," it added.
Earlier Wednesday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia's attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure as "barbaric".
"Over the past several weeks, Russia has bombed out more than a third of Ukraine's energy system, plunging millions in the cold," Blinken said after a meeting with NATO counterparts in Bucharest.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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