KYIV, Oct 25 – Coal miners at the Kapustin coal mine in Pryvillia in Luhansk region have been on a strike below the surface of the earth for over a week, demanding that their wage arrears be paid out and the current management of the open JSC Lysychankvuhillia be removed from office.

Speaking at a news conference at Interfax-Ukraine on October 24, People's Deputy Serhiy Shakhov (the People's Will group, a member of Our Land party) said that 26 coal miners at the Kapustin coal mine (Lysychankvuhillia) have been on a strike, with seven of them being taken to the hospital so far. "They have in fact gone on a hunger strike. And the Minister [of Energy and Coal Mining Ihor Nasalyk] seems not to care that the people are striking," he said.