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Accusations exchanged over heavy weapon attack in Donetsk city
 Ukrainian media leveled charges that Russian backed rebels fired heavy weapons into residential highrise buildings, shutting off power for the town, according to Russian language news reports. According to a news account posted on korrespondent.net, rebel tanks fired their main guns, hitting a tall residential building in Avdievka Saturday. According to a separate rebel report, observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe were present at the site and witnessed the shelling. The korrespondent.net report does not mention the presence of the OSCE representatives at the site. The rebel report also said that Ukrainian journalists were present in Avdievka to report on rebel shelling of residential areas. Advievka and points west have been a center of military activity from both sides. Once a gray zone, a Ukrainian attack moved forces into the area, effectively cutting off the main road between Donetsk city and Gorlovka to the north. A rebel report said that Ukrainian tanks staged the incident for the benefit of observers on the scene, firing their main guns into the highrises at close range. As an aside, rebel artillery has hit buildings in Avidevka in the past, including the coke plant industrial facility in western Avdievka. The artillery fire has cut off electrical power in Avdievka. An lb.ua report said that rebel mortars and tank gunfire hit Ukrainian positions in Avdievka and Butovka mine in Donetsk city. Near southern Donetsk, rebel artillery hit Ukrainian positions at Nikolayevka. Rebel mortars were fired on Marinka. Ukrainian media has reported that two Ukrainian troops were killed and another 25 were wounded in the previous 24 hours. Rebel media through the Donetsk ministry of defense website said that one civilian was wounded in overnight shelling in Gorlovka. Reports say that a total of five residential buildings were damaged in overnight shelling in the Petrovskiy district of Donetsk, Trudovskoye and Gromovsky, near Gorlovka. Rebel media also said that Ukrainian artillery hit rebel positions at the Kievsky district of Donetsk city, Yasinovataya and at Aleksandrovka. Other locations rebel media are reporting hit by Ukrainian artillery are Zaitsevo, Yelenovka, which is southwest of Donetsk city, and Spartak, which is near the Donetsk airport. In southern Donetsk, Ukrainian artillery was reported pounding rebel positions at Dokuchaevsk, Kominterovo, Sakhanka, Bezymenoye and Oktyabr. Reports in novorosinform.org said that direct fire combat took place at Novoazovsk, Dokuchaevsk, the Donetsk airport, Spartak and at the Yasinovatskiy checkpoint. Posted by: badanov 2017-03-12 |
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