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Russian investigators launch probe into school shelling in east Ukraine’s Donetsk

The investigation is part of the major case into the use of banned means and methods of warfare in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics

MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. Russia’s Investigative Committee (IC) has opened a criminal case into the shelling of a school in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk which killed two teenagers, IC spokesman Vladimir Markin said on Thursday.

The investigation is part of the major case into the use of banned means and methods of warfare in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.

According to investigators, on Wednesday afternoon servicemen of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and National Guard launched artillery shelling upon instructions of their commanders directly targeting school No. 63 in Donetsk.

Two teenagers were killed by the shelling while playing on the school sports field. Three other locals, reportedly aged between 17 and 21, sustained various injuries and have been hospitalized.

The shelling comes in violation of international conventions, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and also the protocol on ceasefire in south-eastern Ukraine and a memorandum signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk in September.

The school is located near the Donetsk airport, the site of fierce clashes during the Ukrainian conflict.

Under the Minsk protocol signed at talks mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 5, a ceasefire took effect the same day but has been repeatedly violated.

Amnesty International has earlier called for an immediate and unbiased investigation into the Donetsk school shelling.