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Shelling kills 12 people in Donetsk October 11

Locals say sounds of firing from heavy weaponry are heard in many districts from time to time

DONETSK, October 12. /TASS/. At least 12 people were killed in shelling in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours despite the so-called “silence regime” proclaimed in the city, spokesman for the defence ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin said on Sunday. 

“Twelve civilians, including six women and one child, were killing in shelling, thirteen more were hospitalized with wounds,” he told journalists. In all, about 20 episodes of violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian side were reported. 

“They used 122-mm mortars, howitzers and multiple launch rockets systems,” he said, adding that the worst situation was near the Donetsk airport and at the Spartak farm near Avdeyevka.

He also said that after the “silence regime” had been declared Ukraine’s army shelled Gorlovka, wounding two persons.

According to earlier reports, four civilians were killed and eleven got injured in Donetsk.

“Silence regime”

On October 11, DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko said the so-called “silence regime” was to be introduced jointly with the Luhansk Republic.

On Tuesday evening, the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council’s information and analysis centre announced the so-called “silence regime” during which combat operations and shelling in the contact zone of Kiev’s troops and south-eastern militias should be stopped.

In turn, the Defence Ministry of the DPR said it had not received any notifications from the Kiev authorities on the new cessation of fire. The ministry said “two people died and three were wounded as a result of shelling in Donetsk over the past day”.

According to the United Nations, some 3,500 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled Ukraine’s war-torn southeast as a result of clashes between Ukrainian troops and local militias in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions during Kiev’s military operation to regain control over the breakaway territories, which call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics (DPR and LPR).

The parties to the Ukrainian conflict agreed on cessation of fire during talks mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 5 in Belarusian capital Minsk. The ceasefire took effect the same day but reports said it has occasionally been violated.

Ukraine’s parliament on September 16 granted a special self-rule status to certain districts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions for three years.

On September 20 in Minsk, the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE adopted a memorandum outlining the parameters for the implementation of commitments on the ceasefire in Ukraine laid down in the Minsk Protocol of September 5. The document contains nine points, including in particular a ban on the use of all armaments and withdrawal of weapons with the calibers of over 100 millimeters to a distance of 15 kilometers from the contact line from each side. The OSCE was tasked with controlling the implementation of memorandum provisions.

According to the United Nations, some 3,500 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled Ukraine’s war-torn southeast as a result of clashes between Ukrainian troops and local militias in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions during Kiev’s military operation to regain control over the breakaway territories, which call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics (DPR and LPR).

The parties to the Ukrainian conflict agreed on cessation of fire during talks mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 5 in Belarusian capital Minsk. The ceasefire took effect the same day but reports said it has occasionally been violated.

Ukraine’s parliament on September 16 granted a special self-rule status to certain districts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions for three years.