Ukraine to close schools, hospitals and emergency services in rebel zones
In a strong statement to wannabe separatists, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered a shutdown of state services in rebel-held areas in the country’s east on Saturday, according to news reports.
“This is a decisive step, the games have stopped,” an anonymous security official told Agence France-Presse. “All the structures that the state finances will be withdrawn from there.”
See also: 9 Essential Twitter Sources for Ukrainian Conflict News
“Ukraine will no longer finance them. This includes schools, kindergartens and hospitals,” the official added, France24 reports.
According to Al Jazeera, state workers, courts, judges and prisoners will all be relocated.
Poroshenko’s decree proposed the closure of banks and the withdrawal of banking services, too. Some credit card systems no longer work because Kyiv banks are not accepting the transactions, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, Russia has been moving troops over the border into the rebel-held areas. This threatens September’s shaky ceasefire, which has eased the violence, but not stopped it entirely.
As the situation worsens in Ukraine, President Barack Obama and European leaders planned to discuss the conflict between Russia and Ukraine while attending the G20 Economic Summit in Australia, according to the White House.
Roughly 4,100 have died during the conflict in Ukraine, according to the UN.
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