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Nearly 3,500 houses damaged in Donetsk as a result of shelling from Ukraine — mayor

373 houses have been completely destroyed, the head of the Donetsk City Administration said

MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. Over 3,400 houses have been damaged in the city of Donetsk as a result of fire opened by Ukrainian soldiers over the period of fighting in Donbas, the head of the Donetsk City Administration, Igor Martynov, said Wednesday.

"Over the entire period of hostilities, 3,421 houses have been damaged," the Donetsk News Agency quoted a report by the mayor published by the city administration’s press service.

Martynov said 373 houses have been completely destroyed.

Besides, he said, in the period from November 1, 2014 to May 18, 2015, 96 education system facilities were damaged, and 69 of them have been restored. A total of 23 sports facilities and 25 cultural facilities were damaged.

Kiev has regularly violated the ceasefire regime imposed as part of the Package of Measures on implementation of the September 2014 Minsk agreements. The Package was signed on February 12, 2015 in the Belarusian capital Minsk by participants of the Contact Group on settlement in Donbass.

The Package, earlier agreed with the leaders of the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine) first of all envisions an overwhelming cessation of fire and withdrawal of heavy armaments to create a security area in the region at least 50 kilometers wide.

The constitutional reform and decentralization of power in Ukraine are also among the document’s key provisions. The renewed fundamental law should enter into force by the end of this year. The Package of Measures stipulates the holding in districts with a special status of local elections, agreed with representatives of the region and corresponding to OSCE standards.

A coup occurred in Ukraine in February 2014. Mass protests soon erupted in Ukraine’s southeast, where local residents did not recognize the coup-imposed authorities, formed militias and started fighting for their rights.

Ukrainian troops have been engaged in fierce fighting with local militias during Kiev’s military operation, underway since mid-April 2014, to regain control over the breakaway territories - the Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics constituting parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine. The clashes have killed thousands.