03/24/2013 16:32 GMT

KIEV, March 24, 2013 (AFP) - Ukraine has told its public sector workers in Kiev to stay home on Monday as exceptionally heavy snowstorms blanketed the capital and other parts of the country over the weekend, forcing authorities to declare a state of emergency.

Kiev's private sector has been urged to follow suit, officials said Sunday.

The equivalent of a month's snowfall has covered Ukraine in the last two days, stopping traffic and leaving many vehicles buried under snowdrifts.

More than 600 towns and villages suffered power cuts.

12/18/2012 09:48 GMT

KIEV, Dec 18, 2012 (AFP) - Nineteen people died of exposure in Ukraine in the last 24 hours amid temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit), bringing the toll this month to 37, the health ministry said Tuesday.

Some 190 people asked for medical attention due to hypothermia and frostbite, and 162 of them were hospitalised, the ministry said in a statement.

Varvara Zhluktenko

Ukraine - It is late when Natalia and her three children enter the arrival hall of Kyiv Boryspil airport, exhausted after their long journey from Damascus, but safe.

Natalia is one of 54 stranded Ukrainian women and children helped by IOM to escape the conflict in Syria as of mid-July. She and her kids, aged seven, nine and eleven, underwent a traumatic experience and will need time to recover.

This report covers the period 01/01/2011 to 31/12/2011.

Programmes summary

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• Early prospects for 2012 winter cereal crops uncertain

• Cereal production recovered significantly in 2011

• Cereal exports are expected to increase considerably in 2011/12 marketing year (July/June)

• Cereal prices rose in February

Uncertain prospects for the 2012 winter cereal crops

By Giovanni Zambello

The plight of thousands of people continues in Europe where forecasters say that icy conditions are unlikely to improve before the end of this week. In the last 11 days, several Red Cross societies have been in a race against time to reduce the impact of the extreme cold. Estimates so far suggest 389 have died, and official sources say the winter has been the most brutal in decades.

Summary

CHF 94,643 has been allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the National Society in delivering immediate assistance most needed people affected by the extreme cold wave in Ukraine. The action is coordinated with Ministry of Emergency situation in Ukraine. Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.

Summary:

Due to extreme winter conditions and the number of people who have died (32) and have been hospitalized (544), the Ministry of Emergency has set up tents for people to warm up.

WARSAW — Europe shivered in some of the coldest temperatures in decades Wednesday as the death toll soared past 80 and countries battled to clear snow from roads and railways.

At least 28 people froze to death overnight in eastern and central Europe, while countries further west and south began to feel the frigid effects of a cold front spreading from Siberia.

In Ukraine, officials said 13 people had died of hypothermia over the past 24 hours, bringing the overall toll there to 43 over the past six days.