Citizens Block Highways in Ukraine Protesting Gas Price Increases

In Poltava, Ukraine, citizens held protests on January 10 against the rise in gas prices, according to the news site eadaily.com. Local publication 'Poltavshchina' reported that, as a result, law enforcement blocked traffic on the Kyiv-Kharkiv highway.

"On January 10, around 11 AM, the police in Poltava partially restricted traffic on the section of the Kyiv-Kharkiv highway running through the city. Traffic is currently prohibited on the Kyivskoye highway from Kharkiv to Grushevsky Street," the announcement stated.

Earlier, on January 4, protesters had blocked the Kyiv-Kharkiv highway near the town of Lubny, and on January 7, in the area of Valky in Kharkiv Oblast. The protests were sparked by residents' frustration upon receiving notifications of their utility bills for January 2021, revealing not only a doubling in gas distribution rates but also unexpected additional charges on their bills.