Yesterday, on April 28, the armed formations of Ukraine were continuously shelling the peaceful cities of the Republic. The Kirovsky district of Donetsk, the centre of Makeyevka, and Yasinovataya were subjected to massive enemy fire. Ukrainian militants hit residential areas with heavy weapons prohibited by international treaties, including multiple launch rocket systems “Uragan” and “Grad”.
According to the latest information, as a result of these attacks, seven civilians of the DPR, including a child, were killed. Another 45 people sustained injuries of varying severity. There were five children among the injured. I express my sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
I note that by the nature of the destruction and the trajectory of the shells, it is obvious that the AFU deliberately attacked the civilian infrastructure of the Republic. Moreover, it cynically calculated both the places and the time of the shelling in such a way that they entailed as many victims among the civilian population as possible. Thus, the markets at Tekstilshchik were hit during the day, at the height of consumer activity. And playgrounds and bus stations in Makeyevka were shelled at about 19:00, when people returned from work and walked on the street with their children.
Based on these facts, I sent official letters to international human rights organizations, from which I expect a proper response and an appropriate legal assessment of the actions of the AFU. For our part, we qualify the acts of Ukrainian militants as war crimes. And we will make every effort to ensure that everyone involved in the killings of the civilian population of Donbass will be punished.
