More civilian deaths in latest Ukrainian shelling of Russian city – officials

Ukrainian forces subjected the Russian city of Donetsk to massive artillery shelling and rocket attacks on Monday, with at least four civilians killed and several more wounded, according to local authorities.

The attacks targeted residential areas of the city, with at least three buildings damaged, according to the Joint Center on Control and Coordination (JCCC) mission, which monitors what it alleges are Ukrainian “war crimes.” The shelling primarily hit the Kiev district in the north of the city, the territorial defense headquarters of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) reported.

The Ukrainian forces used Grad BM-21 multiple rocket launchers, as well as artillery pieces of Soviet 152mm and NATO 155mm calibers during the attack. Apart from four fatalities, four other civilians were injured, the territorial defense has said. 

Separately, Kiev’s forces subjected the village of Tetkino, located in Russia’s Kursk Region, to shelling. The settlement was hit by more than 20 projectiles that came from the Ukrainian side of the border. Despite material damage having been inflicted, no one was injured in the attack, according to the regional authorities. 

“Thanks to the timely activation of the warning system, there were no casualties. However, a gas line was hit. Moreover, power supply was disrupted in almost the entire village. According to preliminary data, some 20 private houses were damaged: facades, roofs were hit by shrapnel, windows were broken,” Kursk Region Governor Roman Starovoyt said in a Telegram post, sharing images from the scene. 

Donetsk has been subjected to heavy artillery and missile attacks by Ukrainian forces on an almost daily basis since Russia launched its military operation in late February. Prior to that, the city had endured low-intensity fighting and sporadic shelling by Ukrainian troops since 2014, when the DPR along with the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) broke away from Ukraine in the aftermath of the Maidan coup in Kiev. 

This fall, the two republics, along with Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, formally joined Russia after overwhelmingly supporting unification during referendums.