‘Ukrainian artillery shell strikes Donetsk hospital’
A Ukrainian artillery shell has reportedly struck a hospital in east Ukraine’s Donetsk region in violation of a recent truce, according to the defense authorities of the region.
“The Ukrainian shell hit directly the surgery department of Hospital No. 21 located in 12a Kremlyovskaya Avenue,” read a Sunday statement by the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) as cited in a report by Russian Tass news agency.
The statement said the Ukrainian army forces were engaged in shelling the positions of pro-Russia forces in Donetsk and were attempting to breach the pro-Russians’ defenses.
It added that, overnight on Sunday, two infantry companies of the Ukrainian military also launched an attack on the settlement of Zhabunki on the outskirts of Donetsk.
The DPR defense ministry noted, however, that its forces thwarted the attack after they engaged the Ukrainian troops in direct combat action in the area.
It further expressed concerns that provocative measures by Ukrainian troops at the lines of engagement were escalating tensions between the two sides and may disrupt the peace process in the war-ravaged eastern Ukraine.
DPR authorities earlier declared that the Ukrainian military had engaged in activities that grossly violate the ceasefire agreement reached in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, in February.
Ukraine’s warring sides reached the agreement, dubbed Minsk II, at a summit attended by the leaders of Russia, France, and Germany in the Belarusian capital on February 11 and 12. The agreement introduced measures, including a ceasefire - which commenced on February 15 - the pullout of heavy weapons from front-lines, and constitutional reform in Ukraine by the end of the year.
The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk have been hit by deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in April last year to crush pro-Russia protests there.
Over 6,000 people have been killed since violence erupted in the eastern European country last April, the United Nations says.
MFB/HJL/SS
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