Deadly rocket fire kills 16 in Ukraine as pro-Russia rebels launch new offensive
Jan 24, – Authorities say at 16 people have been killed by artillery shelling in Mariupol in eastern Ukraine. Kiev has blamed the militia, but the latter said they don’t have weapons close enough to attack the city.
“Our militias have no weapon systems near Mariupol that would be able to shell that region. Our positions are simply too far away,” a spokesman for the Donetsk militia headquarters told RIA Novosti.
“According to our intelligence, the artillery fired from the Stariy Krim neighborhood [less than 10 kilometers from central Mariupol]. Ukrainian troops are stationed there. We believe it was a provocation committed by the Ukrainian troops,” the spokesman added.
The comment comes after a local Ukrainian Interior Ministry official accused their opponents of shelling the city some 110 kilometers south of the militia stronghold in Donetsk.The assessment was confirmed by Eduard Basurin, a military official in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, who told RT that the rebel forces are not conducting any offensive on Mariupol at the moment.
Mariupol City Hall said 16 people were killed and 83 injured, according to the latest count.
Several rockets have hit a residential area, seting several cars on fire and damaging a building. They are presumed to have been fired by a Grad multiple rocket launcher.
The strike hit Kyevskaya Street in the eastern part of the city. Ukrainian authorities said it was fired from an easterly position between the villages of Zaichenko and Sakhanka some 35 kilometers distant, according to Interfax-Ukraine. The militia’s claim puts the position of the launcher in a neighborhood about 30 kilometers west of the attacked area.
Press journalist for HRO media – Norberto Lluch reports.
Category: European Crises
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