GENEVA, January 22. /TASS/. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called for a thorough independent investigation into the strike on Donetsk, its statement issued in Geneva said.

"It is crucial that thorough, prompt and independent investigations be carried out to determine the facts and responsibility for this attack," the OHCHR noted.

"The investigation should establish whether this attack violated applicable law on the conduct of hostilities," the office emphasized.

However, the statement does not directly condemn the attack, and there is no direct reference to the Ukrainian armed forces being responsible for the deaths. Some of its passages are contradictory. In particular, the OHCHR states that it "deplores the killing of civilians" that occurred in the Donetsk attack. Besides, the document states that the OHCHR is "currently verifying preliminary reports which indicate that civilians were killed in the attack."

The Ukrainian armed forces launched an artillery strike on a market in the west of Donetsk on the morning of January 21. The attack left at least 27 people dead and many injured, including children.