Three people were killed and eight others wounded in a Ukrainian rocket strike on the Russian city of Donetsk on Saturday, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic has said.
The Paradise cafe in the Kirovsky District suffered a “direct hit,” Denis Pushilin wrote on Telegram. A female employee and two customers lost their lives in the shelling, the regional leader added.
Eight others, including a child, suffered moderate injuries, Pushilin wrote.
According to the regional chief, Ukrainian forces used a US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket system to carry out the attack. One of the projectiles struck the cafe, damaging to its outer wall and blowing out the windows throughout the building, while another landed nearby, he said.
The strike took place while the DPR was celebrating the tenth anniversary of the republic’s creation.
“On the day of the anniversary of our republic, the Ukrainian terrorists cynically shelled Donetsk,” Pushilin wrote.
The shells landed near the starting point of a motor rally dedicated to the anniversary. Dozens of cars decorated with Russian flags were gathered at a large parking lot for the event.
The rally organizers said the event has been called off due to the threat of further attacks. None of the drivers were injured in the incident, they added.
The republic’s Joint Center for Control and Coordination said earlier that Donetsk was targeted by two projectiles fired from a multiple rocket launcher.
On May 11, 2014, a referendum was held in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, in which voters supported independence from Kiev. The ballot took place amid an armed conflict between Ukraine and Donbass, which started after locals in the two regions refused to recognize the results of a Western-backed coup in Kiev in February of that year.