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Military operation in Ukraine

Two civilians killed in Ukrainian army’s bombardment of Donetsk Republic in past day

Also a woman was wounded in the Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk

DONETSK, May 16. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military opened fire against populated areas on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) 32 times in the past 24 hours, killing two civilians, the DPR mission to the Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center reported on Monday.

"In the past 24 hours, the mission reported 32 instances of bombardments by the Ukrainian military. According to reports, two civilians were killed: men born in 1963 and 1965. Also a woman was wounded in the Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk," the DPR mission said on its Telegram channel.

In their bombardments of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Ukrainian forces used 122mm artillery guns, mortars, a surface-to-air missile system and Grad multiple launch rocket systems, firing a total of 200 various munitions. The Ukrainian forces targets ten settlements, including Donetsk, Gorlovka, Yasinovataya and Mikhailovka. A total of 21 houses and four civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged in the shelling, the DPR mission said.

The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.

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