Donetsk Blog Feb 15: Two Civilians Killed - 9 Yr Old Girl Wounded - Heavy Shelling

A nine-year-old girl was wounded and a 54-year-old civilian killed by mortar shelling emanating from Ukrainian positions over the past week. DONi reporters heard shelling falling on the northern and western suburbs of Donetsk city and witnessed mortar shelling of the northern suburb of Gorlovka.

DONi reporters visited some of the shelled areas and found that a number of residential houses and parts of infrastructure were partly or totally destroyed, including two private homes burned down and a gas pipeline damaged in a western suburb of Donetsk.

According to the DPR Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian side shelled DPR territory 471 times, including 276 incidents of shelling over the past day. The shelling is reported to have consisted of 171 82mm mortar rounds, four tank rounds, and one round from an anti-tank missile system (see below for description of weapons mentioned).

The DPR claims to have returned fire in an effort to suppress the shelling. Kiev has reported over the past day 69 incidents of shelling from DPR positions involving 82mm and 120mm mortars, grenade launchers, and small arms.

The ceasefire is being violated by both sides.

(Credibility - DONi closely follows the reports of the governments of the DPR and their Ukrainian counterparts and secures independent confirmation when possible.  In our experience, the DPR’s claims are correct approximately 95% of the time, whereas official Ukrainian reports are almost never correct, and for all appearances, deliberately so.)

Residents of Donbass continue to be killed by Ukrainian mines. Following the explosion of a bus on the side of a road near a checkpoint that killed four passengers, two civilians hit a trip-wire mine, which was set on a path used only by civilians that had not been mined before. One of them died on the spot and the other suffered numerous shrapnel wounds and is currently in intensive care.

The Ukrainian military is also reportedly suffering injuries and fatalities from land mines, including in territory under its control, mostly around checkpoints. The reality of heavy mining of Ukrainian territory is confirmed by OSCE observers, who in the past week discovered eight anti-tank land mines around one checkpoint.

The Ukrainian military continues to amass weapons and equipment on the front line. According to the DPR Defense Ministry, Kiev has over the past week delivered to the front line 13 “Grad” multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), 14 artillery cannons, 12 motorized artillery systems, eight tanks, 16 armored personnel carriers, and six infantry fighting vehicles. There is no available information from either side indicating the withdrawal of Ukrainian equipment from the front line.

OSCE observers have documented the withdrawal by the Ukrainian side of eight 152mm and 122mm motorized artillery systems, 23 tanks, seven 85mm anti-tank cannons, and three mortars from storage areas which are mandated by the peace (Minsk) agreements.

It is unlikely that Kiev is transporting heavy weapons exclusively in one direction or to the front only for exercises. It is more likely that preparations are being to resolve the conflict in Donbass by force.

Information on weapons mentioned in this article:

The Donetsk International News Agency is a private, non-profit information agency located in the center of the city of Donetsk. It is headed by Finnish journalist, Janus Putkonen and has 10 full time journalists on staff. Approximately half of them are natives of Western European countries. Its website is:  www.dninews.com