Ten people were killed and 13 wounded after a Grad multiple rocket launcher firing from separatist-controlled territory hit a passenger bus near a Ukrainian-controlled checkpoint outside the town of Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Blood stained the snow around the minibus, which was riddled with shrapnel holes after the attack. The civilian minibus was
carrying passengers from the separatist stronghold of Donetsk to the village of Zlatoustivka.
The head of the Donetsk regional police, Vyacheslav Abroskin, said that Russian–backed separatists hit the vehicle while firing from the town of Dokuchayevsk at the Ukrainian forces surrounding Volnovakha.
“There was
a direct hit at the bus,” Abroskin wrote on his Facebook page, adding that the wounded including one policeman and one border guard had been sent to hospital.
The
separatists denied responsibility for the attack, claiming the Ukrainian army had fired the shell.
The press
service of Ukraine’s anti-terrorist operation reported the attack took place at approximately 2.30pm. Military spokesman Vladislav Seleznov told Ukrainska Pravda that six of those killed were women and other four men.
“The ambulances
are now racing through Volnovakha, people are crying and cursing everything,” Mariupol-based newspaper 0629.com.ua reported.
The
newspaper added that a teenage girl was among the dead, as well as one
fighter of Kyiv 2 volunteer battalion, who was patrolling the nearby checkpoint.
The United
Nations has estimated that more than 4,700 civilians have died as a result of military
conflict in eastern Ukraine, which started when Kremlin-backed militants seized government buildings in April.
Fighting has intensified in recent days, following a relatively quiet period over the winter holidays.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]
