Photographer Chris Collison has given us this gallery of images looking at the plight of miners on eastern Ukraine:
The Strife Of Eastern Ukraine's Coal Miners
Ukraine’s state-run coal mines are in crisis. Two years of war and political upheaval in eastern Ukraine have led to plummeting production levels, with damage at many facilities due to fighting, and large-scale depopulation as residents flee the conflict with Russian-backed separatists. The few state-owned coal enterprises still running are fighting to survive.
It's been a couple of months since the workers at the state-owned "Ukraina" coal mine, in the country’s eastern region of Donetsk, received their full salaries. Spring wages are only now trickling in, leaving families without enough money for basic items.
The Struggle Of Eastern Ukraine's Coal Miners
Good morning. We'll start the live blog this morning with an update from our news desk on the death of Russian journalist Aleksandr Shchetinin in Kyiv:
OSCE Calls For 'Thorough' Investigation Of Russian Journalist's Death In Kyiv
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's media freedom advocate called on Ukrainian authorities to carry out a thorough investigation into the death of journalist Aleksandr Shchetinin.
Shchetinin, a founder of the Novy Region online news agency, was found dead in his apartment in Kyiv on August 28.
"The circumstances of this tragedy must be swiftly and thoroughly investigated," OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic said on August 29. "His death is a loss for the media community."
Mijatovic repeated her call for authorities to improve the fragile situation regarding the safety of journalists and fully and effectively address the "issue of impunity."
Shchetinin, originally from the Russian Federation, worked as a journalist in Ukraine for several years.
Ukrainian police said they suspect Shchetinin’s death was a suicide.
Authorities said friends who visited Shchetinin’s apartment to congratulate him on his birthday found him seated in a chair on his balcony with a gunshot wound to the head and a gun on the ground beside him.
Police said Shchetinin had also written an email to a colleague in which he declared his intention to kill himself.