Easter Ceasefire in Tatters: Kiev’s Troops Begin Bombardment With Salvos into Donbas’ Cemeteries
Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian troops have violated the so-called Easter ceasefire 20 times, the DPR reports. A cemetery near Gorlovka was caught under fire, hundreds of people were there at the time. They were evacuated immediately. On the eve of the Day of Rejoicing, a Yasynuvata cemetery was attacked as well.
Our correspondent Aleksandr Rudenko is live from Donbass.
- Hello, Aleksandr. Was anyone killed or injured in the shelling?
- Yuri, hello. The attacks on the republic's territories began at 6 AM. 6 residential areas were under fire. A total of 58 shells were fired, calibers ranging from 80 to 100 mm. These were just the large-caliber weapons, not counting small arms and grenade machine guns. If you count all the violations and the amount of ammo fired at the republic, it would be a lot more.
One of the egregious cases was the attack of the Gorlovka cemetery, particularly of the Zaitsevo village. At approximately 12:30 PM, Ukraine's Armed Forces have opened unaimed fire at the cemetery, while people were still there. They came there to honor their relatives on the Day of Rejoicing. The attack lasted for about an hour.
Daniil Bezsonov, a DPR Army official: "The attack took place at the Central Cemetery. There were over 700 people there at the time. They were commemorating their relatives. The attack lasted for an hour. Data about the victims is being updated. Besides, another front's sector was under fire half an hour ago, the Dokuchaevsk village. 20 120-mm mines were fired there. Data about the victims is being updated as well".
Thanks to the concerted effort of Gorlovka's administration and a timely provision of vehicles for evacuating people, there were no casualties. Gorlovka's Mayor has commented on the evacuation process.
Ivan Prikhodko, Gorlovka's Mayor: "Today, at 12:30 PM, from the temporary controlled by Ukraine Zhovanka, an attack on the Central Cemetery in Zaitsevo had begun. About 700 people were at the cemetery at that time. Thank God, Zaitsevo administration had proceeded with the evacuation immediately. There were no casualties, according to the latest updates".
Since the conflict in Southeastern Ukraine began, this is the 14th truce signed in Minsk. However, as you can see, none of them has worked in full, just like today. Colleagues?
- Thank you. I remind you, this was the situation after the Donbass attacks. The latest news was brought to you by my colleague, Andrey Rudenko.