Separatist-held areas lacking food, medicine

More than four months of fighting in Ukraine have cut off the areas still under control of the separatists from deliveries of food and medicine, prompting appeals from those who remain in the cities.

Some of the heaviest impact on civilians has been seen in Luhansk – the rebel-held capital of the Luhansk province that had a pre-war population of 420,000. City authorities said Monday that the 250,000 residents remaining have had no electricity or water supplies for nine days.