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Kiev forces shell outskirts of Donetsk and Gorlovka from mortars and tanks — media

Information about damages and injuries is being verified

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have shelled the outskirts of Donetsk and Gorlovka from tanks and heavy mortars at night, a source in law enforcement agencies of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Tuesday.

"Ukrainian forces shelled the settlements of Spartak, Veseloye, Trudovskoye, Yelenovka, outskirts of the Abakumov mine near Donetsk, as well as Zaytsevo, Shirokaya Balka and Ozeryanovka near Gorlovka from 8pm to 1am," Donetsk News Agency quoted the source as saying. "Two dozens of tank shells, 20 shells of 120mm caliber and 131 shells of 82mm caliber were fired at the territories," he added.

Information about damages and injuries is being verified.

DPR defense ministry said earlier that Ukrainian forces shelled DPR territory over 300 times over the last 24 hours, injuring one civilian.

LPR people’s militia says Kiev forces shell LPR twice over last 24 hours

Ukrainian forces have shelled the positions of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) two times over the last 24 hours, LPR people’s militia said on Tuesday.

"The settlement of Prishib came under fire from mortars of 82mm caliber and small arms from the village of Tryohizbenka," Lugansk Inform Center quoted LPR people’s militia as saying adding that no one was injured.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said earlier today that Ukrainian forces shelled the settlement of Alexandrovka in Donetsk’s Petrovsky district for two hours on Monday’s evening. Head of local administration Maxim Zhukovsky told Donetsk News Agency that a residential house was destroyed in the shelling.

At the meeting of the Contact Group at the start of January the sides supported the initiative of Russia’s envoy Boris Gryzlov on ensuring complete ceasefire on the territory of Donbass. This is the seventh attempt to fully observe the ceasefire regime in Ukraine’s south-east. At recent meetings of the Contact Group in Minsk the participants expressed regret over continuing violations of ceasefire regime in Donbass.

Ceasefire is envisaged by the Minsk accords signed on 12 February 2015, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The package of measures also envisages weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local election in Donbass, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.