DONETSK, August 20. /ITAR-TASS/. Thirty-four civilians have been killed and another 29 wounded in the Ukrainian army’s military operation in the Donetsk region over the past twenty-four hours, bringing the death toll to almost 1,000 people, the regional health department said on Wednesday.

A total of 951 civilians have been killed and another 1,748 wounded since the start of the armed standoff in east Ukraine in mid-March 2014, the health department said.

The Ukrainian army shelled the center of Donetsk on Wednesday, with several powerful explosions heard in the city, eyewitnesses said.