LUGANSK, October 6. /TASS/. Ukrainian armed forces units have fired more than 10,000 different shells into the territory of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) since February 17, and over 100 civilians have been killed as a result of the shelling, the LPR mission to the Joint Ceasefire Coordination and Control Center (JCCC) reported on Thursday.
"In total, the enemy used over 10,000 munitions of various calibers, including Tochka-U tactical missiles (37 rockets) and US-made HIMARS (348 rockets), multiple launch rocket systems (BM-21 Grad, BM-27 Uragan, BM-30 Smerch): 2,497 shells, artillery guns of 155 mm (69 shells)," the mission said in a message on its Telegram channel.
The mission added that "the number of victims of Ukrainian aggression during the aforementioned period amounted to 415, of which 101 people died and 314 were wounded." Seven children were killed and 27 others were wounded as a result of the shelling.
According to the mission, 2,950 houses in 72 settlements as well as 273 civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed or damaged. In total, the mission recorded 1,199 shellings on the territory of the republic.
Tensions escalated along the line of contact in Donbass on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics reported the heaviest shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces in months. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he recognized the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics in accordance with their constitutions within the borders of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions at the beginning of 2014. On February 24, in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics, he announced a special military operation in Ukraine. The DPR and LPR began an operation to liberate their territories, which were under Kiev's control.