Rats Invading Ukraine's Largest Resort City

YALTA, Ukraine -- The Ukrainian resort city of Yalta is facing its largest rat invasion in some 20 years.

Mykola Leschenko, the deputy chief of Yalta's Sanitary Control Department, says the situation is "worrisome," RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

Local authorities think the wave of rats came from international vessels anchored in Yalta's port.

The Sanitary Control Department plans to start a mass disinfection campaign in various apartment blocks in Yalta in the near future, promising to solve "the rat problem" by the beginning of the tourist season in late spring.