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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Mariupol shelled from northeast and east - OSCE report

"The SMM conducted a crater analysis and its initial assessment showed that the impacts were caused by Grad and Uragan rockets," the document says

© Daniel Bodrov/TASS

VIENNA, January 24. /TASS/. The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said in its daily update on Saturday that crater analysis indicated that Mariupol was shelled from northeast and east, or territories controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

“The SMM conducted a crater analysis and its initial assessment showed that the impacts were caused by Grad and Uragan rockets,” the document says. “According to the impact analysis, the Grad rockets originated from a north-easterly direction, in the area of Oktyabr, and the Uragan rockets from an easterly direction, in the area of Zaichenko.

Earlier on Saturday, Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Saturday, DPR self-defence forces were not going to attack Mariupol. “No one is going to attack the city. We are not beasts as they in Kiev,” he said.

He said he ordered to open suppressing fire at the positions of the Ukrainian army east of Mariupol only after Kiev had tried to put the blame for erroneous shelling of living quarters on DPR militias.

“We have conducted no active combat operations near Mariupol until today. But now, after Kiev decided to place responsibility for erroneous fire from its Grads from Berdyanskogo on Mariupol’s living quarters, I ordered to suppress the positions of Ukrainian troops east of Mariupol,” he said.

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Eastern Ukraine

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