DONETSK, February 22. /TASS/. A group of journalists from Russia, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the United States, and Italy came under fire near Gorlovka, the Donetsk News Agency (DNA) reported on Tuesday.
"It was not far away from the car, which was blown up today in the morning [on the Donetsk-Gorlovka motorway]. We were fired at from tripod-mounted grenade launchers. We hid in old trenches, they were flooded with water, but we are alive," DNA photo correspondent Alexander Gayuk said.
According to Gayuk, he was with US journalist Patrick Lancaster, Italian journalist Vittorio Rangeloni, and Russian journalist Nadezhda Chicherova.
"Yes, I was there together with US journalist Patrick Lancaster, freelancer Nadezhda Chicherova and photo correspondent Alexander Gayuk," DNA quoted Rangeloni as saying. "It was near the site of the car’s explosion."
"Representatives of the Interior Ministry were working at the scene and they told us where we can find a safe shelter. We waited out for about 10 minutes and are now almost in Donetsk," he added.
Deputy Head of the People’s Militia in the Donetsk People’s Republic Eduard Basurin on Tuesday said Ukrainian infiltrators set off an explosion on the Donetsk-Gorlovka motorway, killing three people that were riding in a car.
Tensions escalated along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine on the morning of February 17. The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR) reported the heaviest shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in months. On February 18, the heads of the LPR and DPR, Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, announced the evacuation of the republics’ residents to Russia. A general mobilization was ordered in the Donbass republics on February 19.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees at the ceremony in the Kremlin on recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Putin met with DPR and LPR (the Lugansk People’s Republic) leaders, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, and signed with them the treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual aid between Russia and both republics.