DPR fatalities number 96 since launch of Russian special military operation - ombudsman

MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) - Sixteen people have been killed and another 108 injured during fighting in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) since the Russian military operation began in Ukraine, the press service for the Russian human rights commissioner said on Friday.

"Information on the dead and injured in the DPR from February 25 to 9:30 a.m. March 11, according to data from the DPR human rights commissioner: 96 dead (16 civilians and 80 troops), 1,191 injured (108 civilians, 1,011 troops and 72 mobilized [reservists])," the Telegram channel of ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova stated, citing her DPR counterpart Darya Morozova.

Also according to Morozova's data, as of March 9, 115 Ukrainian soldiers "surrendered firearms and went over the DPR side since the start of special operation," the statement said.

Earlier, the DPR ombudsman's office said that between February 25 and March 4 fighting in the republic left 91 dead (77 troops and 14 civilians) and 479 injured (406 troops and 73 civilians).

According to the DPR representative in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, 26 civilians have been killed and 150 injured by shelling over the past 22 days.

The launch of the special military operation in Ukraine was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the morning of February 24.