Ukraine Breaks Ceasefire! Artillery Opens Fire on Civilian Living Quarters in Donbass, No Casualties So Far
The Ukrainian military is said to have broken the cease-fire in Donetsk and Lugansk. Their artillery damaged several buildings. There might be casualties. On December 23, Donbas adopted a cease-fire after the agreement was signed by the Contact Group in Minsk.
Our correspondent Andrey Rudenko's been monitoring the situation. We have him here live.
- Greetings, Andrey. How many casualties are we talking about? Were there casualties at all? Where were they firing from?
- Greetings, Maria. Thank God, there were no casualties. Both Lugansk and Donetsk Republic were bombarded. The military used 152-mm and 122-mm shells and 30-mm gun of a BMP-2. As I've mentioned before the cease-fire was violated 15 times. Several residential buildings were destroyed.
Regarding the recent law adopted by Petro Poroshenko Donetsk treated his peaceful initiative with caution. The Republic closely monitors everything that happens in Kiev because every new law has an impact on the life of its citizens. Let's hear what the locals think of the new law.
“His new law severed our remaining ties with Ukraine with our friends and families. We're all collaborators. It's hard to pronounce. We used to be separatists but now we're collaborators".
"He's a dictator. Ukraine is a dictatorship. He does what he wants. He's free to declare martial law free to declare war and free to sent his troops to invade Donetsk and Lugansk".
We managed to take the opinion of the DNR government. We asked the representative of the DNR in Minsk Denis Pushilin. He also criticized the new law. Let's hear what he told us.
Denis Pushilin, Chair of the People's Council of DNR: "This law is a late attempt to avoid responsibility for the violence that's been used against the citizens of Donbas. But at some point, they'll have to face responsibility. Despite all the laws, Poroshenko and Turchynov won't be able to avoid responsibility for the genocide of the people of Donbas. This law contains no peaceful initiatives. Moreover, it grants Poroshenko ultimate authority. and allows him to escalate the conflict at any given moment".