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East Ukraine’s Luhansk shelled from Kiev-controlled area — emergencies minister

"The Smerch rockets can be fired only from the distance of at least 30 kilometers," LPR emergencies minister Sergey Ivanushkin said

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. Ukraine’s forces shelled Luhansk from the Kiev-controlled territory near Schastye town in the Luhansk region using Smerch multiple rocket launchers, the emergencies minister of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) said on Wednesday.

"The Smerch rockets can be fired only from the distance of at least 30 kilometers," Sergey Ivanushkin was quoted by the LuhanskInformCenter as saying, adding that preliminary data shows this is Schastye town.

At least 16 people were killed and another 114 were wounded over the past 24 hours as Kiev troops shelled the towns of the self-proclaimed Luhansk republic, the LPR health minister, Larisa Ayrapetyan said.

Thirteen people were killed in Stakhanov, some 50 kilometers west of Luhansk, while two died in Krasny Luch and one person in Luhansk. A total of 76 victims have been taken to medical facilities in Lugansk, she said.

The LPR’s emergencies minister said the representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Ukraine have not yet sent any requests on the consequences of the shellings.