STORY: 46-year-old Maria was queueing for humanitarian aid from Ukrainian volunteers when she said that she was against the referendums.

"I need Ukraine to be part of Ukraine, and not under anyone's heels," she said.

Izium residents were gathering firewood at abandoned military positions in a forest nearby the mass burial site where hundreds of bodies have been found.

A man gathering wood in the forest, 63-year-old pensioner Serhii, said he did not have gas or electricity at home. "That's why I have got to gather firewood," he told Reuters, adding "I don't know how I'll get through this winter."