Ukrainian shelling kills 5-year-old child – DPR
At least two people – a woman and a small child – were killed on Tuesday during the shelling of the city of Makeevka, the authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have claimed. They said Ukrainian troops had fired at least five rockets at the city, which borders the republic’s capital Donetsk.
Five people were injured by Ukrainian fire during the day, according to the latest update from the DPR defense HQ. One of the locations damaged by the shelling was a school in Makeevka.
“I will never forgive them for what they’ve done! We have lost the most precious thing we have! I hate this world! We have no life without her,” the grandmother of the deceased girl was seen crying out, in the presence of RT correspondent Roman Kosarev.
Another school that came under fire was located in Yelenovka, a village about 10km southwest of the capital, reports said. It was hit by three 152mm artillery shells, according to the DPR.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin held an operational meeting to discuss what needs to be done “to establish and assess the damage caused as a result of the criminal actions of the Ukrainian security forces in Donbass.”
According to the committee’s statement, the actions of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) resulted in the severe destruction of many settlements, including in Mariupol, where “residential buildings, children’s and medical institutions, and other civilian infrastructure facilities” were struck. During the meeting, Bastrykin made clear that the perpetrators should bear “not only criminal, but also material liability.”
Since the beginning of the Russian military offensive on Ukraine in late February, Moscow and Kiev have been constantly accusing each other of various war crimes, while denying their own liability.
Russia attacked its neighboring state following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocol was designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
