Tens of thousands are without power as fighting rages in eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces knocked out electricity for the entire province of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, local government officials said early Monday, as fighting raged across the region.

A critical substation in the town of Kreminna was knocked offline, after weeks of intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces had already caused widespread damage to key infrastructure.

​​Kreminna, which had a population of around 18,000 before the war, sits on the Donets River. The river snakes its way through cities such as Rubizhne, Sieverodonetsk and Lysychansk that have become key battlegrounds as Russian forces press their offensive. In Luhansk — about half of which has been controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014 — the Russian advance has been grinding and costly. But Russian troops now control about 80 percent of the region, according to Ukrainian officials. Read more

@nytimes