FOLLOWING intense battle in the country’s east, Ukrainian forces have launched their largest onslaught on the occupied Donetsk area since 2014, according to a Russian-installed official.
Donetsk has been held by separatists backed by Russia for eight years, and in defiance of international law, it was one of the four regions of Ukraine that Moscow attempted to annexe in October.
“At exactly 7 a.m. the (Ukrainians) subjected the center of Donetsk (city) to the most massive strike since 2014,” the Moscow-appointed mayor, Aleksey Kulemzin, posted on Telegram.
“Forty rockets from BM-21 ‘Grad’ MLRS were fired at civilians in our city,” he said Thursday, adding that a key intersection in Donetsk city center had come under fire.
Kulemzin shared photographs on Telegram of damage to residential and commercial buildings and a cathedral.
There have been no immediate reports of casualties, according to Russian state media.
The city was hit 86 times with “artillery, MLRS, tanks, mortars and UAVs,” in the past 24 hours, according to the regional head of the Kherson military administration.
Ongoing shelling from Moscow has killed at least two people on Thursday and wounded another three people, Yaroslav Yanushevych said on Telegram.
“One of (the victims) was a volunteer, a member of the rapid response team of the international organization. During the shelling, they were on the street, they were fatally wounded by fragments of enemy shells,” he added.
Yanushevych added that three people were killed and 13 injured, including a 8-year-old boy, on Wednesday.
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