Militia reports overnight shelling of DPR
MOSCOW/ KYIV. Jan 27 (Interfax) - The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has accused Ukrainian government forces of shelling localities in the DPR 28 times last night.
"Last night, the Ukrainian army shelled localities of the DPR 28 times, and 56 instances of shelling have been registered in the past 24 hours," head of the DPR Defense Ministry's political department Eduard Basurin was quoted as saying by the Donetsk news agency.
For its part, the press service of the Ukrainian army's operation in the country's eastern regions, reported that militiamen had conducted strikes against towns and villages in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions last night.
Operation press officer Leonyd Matyukhyn told Interfax on Tuesday that after 6:00 p.m. on Monday, the "adversary" had continued to shell the Ukrainian army's positions and localities using different kinds of weapons.
According to Matyukhyn, the villages of Stary Aidar, Sokolnyky and Stanytsia Luhansk in the Luhansk region came under mortar and artillery fire. Grad multiple-launch rocket systems and mortars were fired on the town of Shchastya, he said. Armed clashes erupted in Stanytsia Luhanska after midnight, Matyukhyn said.
In the Debaltseve district, militia forces used mortars and artillery weapons to shell Sanzharivka, Debaltseve and Maloorlivka, Matyukhyn said. Krasnohorivka and Novotroitske near Donetsk came under mortar and artillery fire, he said.
No shelling was reported in the city of Mariupol last night, Sector "M" press officer Dmytro Chaly told Interfax on Tuesday morning.
"The situation was quiet last night. The last instance of mortar shelling by the militants of the locality of Chernovyk was registered at 8:00 p.m. Everything has been quiet since then," he said.
Luhansk Region Governor Hennadiy Moskal, for his part, claims almost non-stop overnight artillery strikes targeting Stanytsia Luhanska and nearby villages.
"The heaviest fighting was reported near the village Valuiske and the Kondrashovka district center. More than ten residential buildings were damaged there. The preliminary information available indicates that no civilians were killed. However, a 74-year-old woman suffered fragmentation wounds in the central part of Stanytsia [Luhanska]," Moskal was quoted as saying on Tuesday by his press service.
Stanytsia Luhanska has had no power, water supplies and heating for a week, he said. There have also been disruptions to gas supplies.