Strong frost has claimed 215 lives and injured over 5,500 in Russia so far this year, the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development said Monday.

A total of 3,382 people, including 52 children, were admitted to hospitals for cold-related injuries.

The total amount of injured children was 154, according to a statement from the ministry.

Abnormal cold has struck 60 Russian regions in recent weeks. Heaviest damage has been reported in the southernmost part of the country, where people were used to warm winters but now suffered the lowest temperatures on record of minus 20 degrees Celsius.

In the Moscow region, Monday morning was the coldest in a decade with the temperature dropping to minus 35 degrees.

The freezing temperature has also killed people in some other European countries, including Italy, Poland and Ukraine.