The lack of heating and electricity in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast has reached a critical level, with most settlements, including Horlivka, Makiivka, Yasynuvata and the administrative center of Donetsk, experiencing a lack of manpower and investment in infrastructure maintenance, Ukraine’s National Resistance Center or NRC reported on Dec. 22.

Some 111 boiler houses in the region are currently out of service, and numerous breaks in the heating network are reported, with no plans for repairs.

Read also: Russians plan manufacturing hub at devastated Azovmash in Mariupol

“In general, the occupiers are unable to ensure the region’s basic vital activities,” the NRC said.

This follows earlier reports that the so-called Russian “authorities” owe mineworkers over $2 million (RUR 200 million) and are actively closing unprofitable mines, leading to the destruction of the local coal industry.

Delays in payments to state-owned enterprise employees since May are also causing a decline in pro-Russian sentiment among the population, which once supported the occupation.

Read also: Labor shortages in occupied Donetsk driven by conscription, Kyiv says

Russian “authorities” are continuing forced mobilization in occupied Ukrainian territories, leading to a critical shortage of workers in Donetsk, the NRC reported on Dec. 20.

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