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Kiev says 15 civilians die in east Ukraine's Kramatorsk shelling on Tuesday

According to the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksandr Turchinov, 63 people, including five children, are staying in hospital with various injuries

KIEV, February 10 /TASS/. Oleksandr Turchinov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (SNBO), said on Tuesday that 15 people had died in Tuesday’s shelling of Kramatorsk, a town controlled by the government troops, the council’s press service said.

According to Turchinov, 63 people, including five children, are staying in hospital with various injuries. Earlier on Tuesday, the regional state administration of the Donetsk region (OGA) reported that 12 people were killed and 64 were injured, including 29 servicemen.

The Ukrainian side claims that the town had been shelled from a militia-controlled territory.

At the same time, Eduard Basurin, an official spokesperson for the DPR’s Defense Ministry, has described the Kramatorsk incident as a provocation.

"Today, you could see the video reports from Kramatorsk with comments by Ukrainian television channels which said that the DPR militias had shelled Kramatorsk from Tornado, Smerch and Grad multiple rocket launcher systems (MRLS) and used combat aviation. We have stated many times that we do not use artillery against peaceful cities and civilians, and we do not have an air force," Basurin told the Donetsk news agency.

He demanded that prior to accusing the Donetsk militias of anything a commission comprising representatives of OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, the DPR and other authorized organizations be set up to carry out an objective on-site investigation and fix all the facts. "For the moment, this situation is being regarded as a provocation on the part of the Ukrainian authorities who want to discredit the militias and the authorities of the DPR," Basurin said.