KIEV, Ukraine
Around 1,000 miners have been stranded underground in eastern Ukraine due to power cuts caused by clashes between government troops and pro-Russian separatists, rebels have claimed.
Self-proclaimed Donetsk's People's Republic military spokesman Eduard Basurin said Wednesday there had been a power outage at Zasyadko coal mine in the Kievsky district of Donetsk.
In early March, a gas explosion in the Zasyadko mine, which opened in 1958, killed a total of 34 miners.
"A total of 576 miners were stranded inside the mine over the power outage due to clashes with government forces," claimed Basurin.
Basurin said other mines in the region lacked electricity, claiming 375 workers were stranded at the Skochinsky pit.
Earlier, separatists announced that 27 power suppliers were inoperable due to clashes.
At least 6,417 people have been killed since April last year after pro-Russian rebels seized parts of Luhansk and Donetsk.
