Power Station In Flames Amid Intensive Shelling Near Separatist Areas In Ukraine

Amid persistent shelling, thick black smoke was seen rising from a local power station, which caught fire on February 22, leaving over 40,000 residents of the town of Shchastya without electricity for the second time in recent days. The small settlement is about 30 kilometers from the city of Luhansk and in close proximity to an area controlled by Russia-backed separatists, one of two breakaway entities in Ukraine that Moscow recognized as independent states the previous day. Ukrainian soldiers deployed there say the shelling in the area has notably increased in the last few days.