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More civilians killed in eastern Ukraine as peace talks fail

A woman surveys damage done to a house, which according to locals was recently damaged by shelling, in the suburbs of Donetsk on January 30, 2015. (REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko)

Civilian casualties, from both sides, rise as heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine rages on after peace talks failed.

On Friday, in Ukraine’s volatile eastern region of Donetsk, five people were killed by artillery fire as they were queuing up outside a cultural center to receive humanitarian aid, and a sixth person was killed about a kilometer away after a trolley bus was hit, Reuters reports.

According to pro-Russia forces in the region, a total of seven people were killed during the two-strikes which they blamed on Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian government troops said the shelling was carried out by the pro-Russians to disrupt the peace talks.

Similar allegations have been made by both sides since the beginning of the conflict.

"We are already used to this artillery and there's nothing we can do about it. Our boys are defending us," said a shopkeeper in downtown Donetsk.

 

More casualties near Donetsk

In the town of Debaltseve, east of Donetsk, seven more civilians were killed on Friday as their homes were shelled, said regional police chief Vyacheslav Abroskin.

Earlier, Abroskin reported the deaths of seven other civilians during the last 24 hours.

In the nearby town of Horlivka, eight civilians were killed by rocket fire on Thursday, the town’s mayor said.  

 

Ukrainian government troops  

According to the Kiev military, five servicemen were killed and 23 more wounded during clashes over the last 24 hours.

"They are repeatedly using Grad (missiles), artillery, mortars, tanks and rocket launchers," said Ukraine military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko.

 

Peace talks canceled

Peace talks between Ukraine and pro-Russia forces in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk were cancelled following Kiev’s refusal to attend the talks on Friday.

“The Foreign Ministry of Belarus confirmed today that Kiev (representatives) won’t come. The talks have been cancelled,” pro-Russians’ representative, Denis Pushilin, told reporters in the Belarusian capital.

Back in September 2014, Minsk hosted the representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk who finally inked a ceasefire deal to end deadly clashes in eastern Ukraine. However, the truce has been violated almost daily by both the Ukrainian military and pro-Russia forces.

The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev’s military operation started in April 2014, in a bid to crush the protests.

Violence intensified in May 2014, after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.

The fighting has left more than 5,100 people killed and over 1.5 million displaced, the United Nations says.

SRK/AS/MHB

 

Related stories

'If talks fail, attacks will continue' Fri Jan 30, 2015

Minsk talks on Ukraine cancelled Fri Jan 30, 2015

Shelling leaves 11 dead in Donetsk Fri Jan 30, 2015 


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