A fifth of a million phone users in Ukraine’s rebel-controlled eastern city of Donetsk were cut off from the rest of the country on March 1 after armed men took over the offices and equipment of the main fixed-line telecoms company, its director said.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Reuters: Phones cut in eastern Ukraine as rebels seize firms
A Russian-backed separatist guard speaks to a worker at the Uzov Metallurgical Works in Donetsk on March 1. Russian-backed rebels on March 1 halted the operations of the first Ukrainian company after an ultimatum expired to end a trade blockade between the two foes. Protesting Ukrainian war veterans and opposition lawmakers have blocked rail freight traffic between government and rebel territory since January to stop the insurgents from receiving the cash they get in trading with Kyiv.
