Swathes of Ukraine's Rebel East Lose Access to Water

A pro-Kiev official in eastern Ukraine said Sunday that swathes of the rebel-run region have lost access to water because fighting has damaged a water main.

The disputed Lugansk region's governor said that most villages and towns in the southwest of the industrial province were affected, but did not specify how many homes were hit.

Governor Gennadiy Moskal also stopped short of assigning blame to either Kiev's forces or pro-Russian insurgents for the damage.

"The Ukrainian authorities do not intend to repair it. But they will allow the separatists' repair crew to access the site," Moskal wrote on Facebook.

Rebel-held parts of eastern Ukraine's Lugansk and Donetsk regions have periodically lost access to water throughout their 13-month uprising against Kiev's pro-Western rule.

The insurgents' de facto capital Donetsk -- a city of nearly one million that now stands half-abandoned -- went almost completely dry for about a week last summer a surge in fighting.

The insurgency has killed nearly 6,300 people and forced more than a million from their homes.