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DPR discloses body count of civilians killed by Nazi Azov unit in Mariupol hospital attack

Tensions escalated along the line of contact in Donbass on February 17

DONETSK, April 21. /TASS/. Experts from the Donetsk People’s Republic’s mission at the Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) have registered the deaths of 26 civilians killed by Azov nationalists, the DPR’s mission at the JCCC reported on Thursday.

"The taskforce of the DPR’s military experts at the JCCC have been documenting the aftermath of the military aggression by the Ukrainian army in Mariupol, jointly with Russian Investigative Committee officials. On April 20, the experts carried out work at the site of Hospital No. 4, where the bodies of 26 civilians, who were killed in a massive bombardment by members of the Azov Nazi formation, were uncovered," the DPR’s mission at the JCCC said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

The DPR’s military experts at the JCCC and Russian investigators have also registered crimes committed by the Ukrainian army at 3 Ordzhonikidze Street, and the work in Mariupol will continue, the statement reads.

Tensions escalated along the line of contact in Donbass on February 17. At the time, 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 the recognition of the DPR and LPR. Treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance were signed with their leaders. On February 24, Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine based on a request for help from the heads of the Donbass republics to demilitarize and denazify the country. The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories from Kiev’s control.

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