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Gleb Garanich / Reuters
Pedestrians walk near a metro entrance in an air temperature around minus 4 Fahrenheit in central Kiev, on Feb. 3. Thirty-eight more deaths from a cold snap have been registered in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, bringing to 101 the toll from freezing temperatures across the former Soviet republic, the Emergencies Ministry said on Friday.
Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA
An elderly woman is wrapped in thick winter clothes as she tries to sell cigarettes to passers-by in downtown Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 3. The death toll from the cold spell reached 101 in Ukraine, up from 63 reported killed by exposure on the day before. More than 1,200 people were treated for cold-related injuries, the Ukraine Ministry of Emergency Situations reported. Freezing cold and snowstorms over Eastern and Central Europe on Friday caused more deaths and disrupted traffic and energy supplies across the continent.
Gleb Garanich / Reuters
A sparrow with extended feathers due to the cold sits on a branch in an air temperature around minus 4 Fahrenheit in central Kiev, on Feb. 3. Thirty-eight more deaths from a cold snap have been registered in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, bringing to 101 the toll from freezing temperatures across the former Soviet republic, the Emergencies Ministry said on Friday.
AP reports:
In Ukraine, thirty-eight more fatalities were reported from frostbite and hypothermia on Friday, raising the nation's death toll to 101. Emergency officials have said many of the victims were homeless.
Mykola Blyznyuk of the Health Ministry told the Kiev Post newspaper that many of the victims of hypothermia had broken their legs in falls and spent a long time on the ground in freezing temperatures while waiting for help to arrive.
Of the Ukrainians who have died since the cold weather hit Jan. 27, 64 were found frozen on the streets, 11 died in hospitals and 26 in their homes, emergency officials said.
It was so cold there, that some 1,500 swans, sea gulls and ducks froze to the ice in a small harbor near Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa, forcing emergency workers to use ships to break up the surface and free the birds, officials said.
The weeklong cold snap — Eastern Europe's worst in decades — is causing power outages, frozen water pipes and the widespread closure of schools, nurseries, airports and bus routes.
Gleb Garanich / Reuters
A view of the frozen River Dnieper in an air temperature around minus 4 Fahrenheit in snow covered central Kiev, on Feb. 3.
Sergei Chuzavkov / AP
A woman looks through an icy window in a bus in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, on Feb. 3.
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Going to a Movie?
Why write "minus 4 Fahrenheit" - makes it more readable to write -4ºF. In fact you could write -4ºF (-20ºC) in less space. The author should keep in mind that probably outside the US, few people are unfamiliar with Fahrenheit, but many read English and would be viewing this site.
Really . . . ???
I have many friends in Ukraine and Russia and they translate between the two temperatures with ease as they do with the language. Those folks are just not as stupid as the average American about such things.
They're paid by the word (likely) or character count.
Amen!
Martin 2797071 - I can't do the -4small zero on my computer. Do you have a special key board?
Well you could just say, "It's F'ing cold and I froze my butt off". That should get the point across. :-)
Four degrees below zero. What's the big deal? Ever been to minnesota in the winter? Alaska right now has 62 degrees below Zero. Minus four degree's would feel like summer to them. Suck it up Ukraines, summer will soon be here and then you can complain about the heat.
You right, 101 people dead (not a big deal). ... The only freeze ( that I can see) is in your heart, dude.
Tarzan7,
Seriously? Are you truly THAT heartless? You must be one of those kind of people that always has to have "one better" than everyone else.
-4 in Ukrane where you have;
1) a dense population, 2) abject poverty, 3) a massive homeless contingent and 4) a rat poor economy...
... is very different than in AK where every state citizen get's their state welfare check just for being in the state. Or in your state where this is normal, a good economy and plenty of resources... A people where they are spoiled beyond belief. Namely YOU.
Tarzan7,
your ignorance amazes me. people in MN and Alaska are used to temperatures as brisk as these, o it doesn't "feel like summer" to them at all!
Wow Tarzan7, you're an a$$ hole... I hope someone shows you same compassion when your dumb a$$ freezes to death.
There are many homeless elderly people in Ukraine. The former gov't's pension scheme totally failed these elderly. Hence the problem with cold. Many others don't have heat in their homes.
I am here in AK and we spent most of January around -10 to -20 and Fairbanks and other parts north of us saw temps down to the -60s so I can't really feel to sorry for the people other than I'm sorry over 100 people died due to cold. Shouldn't they really be prepared for this kind of cold or maybe its just Siberia that only gets this cold.
Tarzan7
Agree! My parents retired to Bermidji, MN, which is a few miles from the Canadian border and is usually the coldest spot in the U.S. in the winter. Used to power walk in the snow when it was like 10 below. Believe it or not, I used to get hot and would strip down to my sports bra and spandex shorts.
My step-son was born and raised in the Ukraine. He says it's no big deal, but I can tell you he's not begging to go back to that hell hole.
During the Great Depression, Stalin decided to show the Russian people how terrible the Great Depression was for the American people. So he showed the movie "The Grapes of Wrath" all over Russia.
The Russian people came away with this vision after seeing the movie:
Even the poorest Americans still had cars.....
Freezing in Ukraine is very different than freezing in America. Just a little perspective people.
global warming??? I left Wyoming because of the six month long winters. was never minus 60, but even 20 below was tooooo cold after fifteen years. feel sorry for those folks, especially those with no heat or income. we are so lucky to live here in the U.S., so enough of the ignorant posts.
The former Governments Pension scheme has dos not control the WEATHER,,,
I love this Blog ,, its like a slagging match,,,LOL some of you are so funny,, lets read some more,,,LOL
Reading all the above is more entertaining than the TV..
I feel for all those people. Living in south Texas its almost impossible to relate to that kind of weather. Right now, we have the air conditioner on. It was near 80 today.
As bad as it seems, -4F° is a normal winter temperature in Ukraine. Let us know when it gets to -40F°.