KHARKIV, Dec 12 – At least 16,000 people in the Kharkiv region will be left in the cold if Russia decides to suspend natural gas supplies via Ukraine due to Soviet-built infrastructure in the region, a senior regional official said Thursday.

Oleksiy Kucher, the head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, said a number of private houses and a municipal district boiler in the Vovchansky district, receive supplies directly from the pipeline carrying the Russian gas.