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Unrecognized Donetsk republic to raise issue of Kiev’s refusal to discuss Donetsk shelling

The republic’s Defense Ministry said on October 12 that two DPR servicemen had been wounded and one killed on October 10 in the shelling of Vesyoloye settlement

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) will bring up during the talks in Minsk the issue of the Ukrainian side’s refusal to urgently convene a video conference of the Contact Group in connection with the shelling of Donetsk on October 10, DPR envoy to the Contact Group Denis Pushilin said on Friday.

"Of course, the issue will be raised, since it violates Point 4 of the new document on withdrawal of weapons under 100 mm caliber. It implies convening the group urgently in the event of casualties. This too disrupts the normal negotiation process," Donetsk News Agency quotes Pushilin as saying.

The republic’s Defense Ministry said on October 12 that two DPR servicemen had been wounded and one killed on October 10 in the shelling of Vesyoloye settlement by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. A 9-storey building in Kiev district of Donetsk came under fire as well. "In Vesyoloye settlement 80-mm mortar hits were registered. A 9-storey building in the city’s Kiev district was shelled from a 120-mm mortar," Defense Ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said.

In this regard, the DPR leaders offered the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to hold a video conference of the Contact Group to discuss the Donetsk shelling, Pushilin said.

"We asked the OSCE to convene an extra Skype conference of the Contact Group in connection with the shelling of Vesyoloyoe settlement and a 9-storey building in Kiev district of Donetsk where one person was killed and two were wounded," he said.

Pushilin added that the Ukrainian side had become the only member of the Contact Group, which refused to hold emergency talks.

"Ukraine ignored the discussion of this incident. The Ukrainian side is the only participant in the Minsk format, which refused to hold an emergency video conference meeting of the Contact Group," Pushilin said.