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Ukrainian Military and Rebel Fighters Clash in Donetsk Ukrainian Military and Rebel Fighters Clash in Donetsk
(about 5 hours later)
DONETSK, Ukraine — A thick plume of dark smoke could be seen rising into the bright blue afternoon sky here on Monday. One man, a passenger in a blue car that was stopped at a red light, said two people in his building were killed in the day’s fighting. He said he ran out of his house in nothing but his slippers.DONETSK, Ukraine — A thick plume of dark smoke could be seen rising into the bright blue afternoon sky here on Monday. One man, a passenger in a blue car that was stopped at a red light, said two people in his building were killed in the day’s fighting. He said he ran out of his house in nothing but his slippers.
A woman in the Kuibysheva neighborhood, which was hit Monday morning, was killed as she walked through a courtyard near a small playground. Two men were found dead nearby. A grocery discount card was on the ground near the bloody outline where the woman’s body had been.A woman in the Kuibysheva neighborhood, which was hit Monday morning, was killed as she walked through a courtyard near a small playground. Two men were found dead nearby. A grocery discount card was on the ground near the bloody outline where the woman’s body had been.
“They are trying to push the D.N.R. back, but they end up hitting us,” said Yevgeny Zhitnikov, a 17-year-old resident of Donetsk, using an abbreviation for the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic. “Victory is more important to them than human life.”“They are trying to push the D.N.R. back, but they end up hitting us,” said Yevgeny Zhitnikov, a 17-year-old resident of Donetsk, using an abbreviation for the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic. “Victory is more important to them than human life.”
His father, who was arranging bags on the ground for the family to leave to a nearby bomb shelter, added, “Animals.”His father, who was arranging bags on the ground for the family to leave to a nearby bomb shelter, added, “Animals.”
The fighting in this regional capital between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian military was said to be intense. A witness reported seeing heavy shelling in the area including damage at a children’s hospital. While the world was watching the aftermath of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, Ukraine stepped up its fight against the separatists, firing on rebel positions in areas of the northwest of the city. Ukraine denied it had hit civilian areas. But at least three of the approximately seven blast sites had trajectories and impact damage consistent with a rocket’s being fired from the northwest, where the Ukrainians are based.
“A fight is going on,” Sergei Vladimirovich, a spokesman for the Donetsk People’s Republic, said by telephone. “There are casualties, but we don’t know how many. We are still trying to figure out what is happening.” “I hate them all,” said an elderly woman, whose front yard had been swallowed up by a large crater. She was sweeping glass off her windowsill in orange gloves, and trying to salvage some old photographs that had been torn. “I don’t know who did this. But let him come, and have his child and his loved ones end up in this situation.”
A Ukrainian military spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, would not provide details, citing military secrecy, but confirmed the fighting, calling it “an active phase of the antiterrorist operation.”A Ukrainian military spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, would not provide details, citing military secrecy, but confirmed the fighting, calling it “an active phase of the antiterrorist operation.”
The Ukrainian military stepped up its fight against the separatists, firing on rebel positions. At least three civilians were killed in the fighting, though Ukraine denied it had hit civilian areas. But at least three of the seven blasts were near a dental office building, a library and a music school.
The rocket that killed the woman in Kuibysheva had punched a deep hole into the courtyard. Its shape indicated it had come from the northwest, the area that the Ukrainian government controls.
Ukraine has continued to press its military campaign against the rebels, shelling and bombing rebel positions throughout the area they control.
When asked where the rockets were being fired from, a rebel who identified himself as Yenot gave a long, slow shrug. “They can come from five to 40 kilometers,” he said. “Who knows?”
A spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Lysenko, confirmed that government forces were closing in on Donetsk and Horlivka, another rebel stronghold.A spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Lysenko, confirmed that government forces were closing in on Donetsk and Horlivka, another rebel stronghold.
“In many areas, including in the direction of Donetsk, we are working on unlocking the approaches to the city and destroying roadblocks of the terrorists,” Mr. Lysenko said at a briefing in Kiev.
Mr. Lysenko denied, however, that government troops had fired any mortars at Donetsk — the government’s standard position — even though heavy fighting in the city cast doubt on his assertion.Mr. Lysenko denied, however, that government troops had fired any mortars at Donetsk — the government’s standard position — even though heavy fighting in the city cast doubt on his assertion.
“If there are explosions in the city, it is for sure not Ukrainian military because there is an order not to apply aviation and heavy artillery strikes on residential areas of cities,” he said. “We have a lot of evidence of terrorists doing this to provoke and say that it is the Ukrainian military who does so.” The attack, which local rebels said was from a Grad rocket, though the source was unconfirmed, struck near the main train station, a dentist office building, a library, a music school and a basketball court.
Ukraine has continued to press its military campaign against the rebels, who seized control here this spring, shelling and bombing rebel positions, including on the morning after the downing of the Malaysian jet. At least 16 civilians died in fighting in Luhansk that day.
The rocket that killed the woman in Kuibysheva had punched a deep hole into the courtyard. Angry residents had gathered. “Why are people suffering, for what?” said Galina Afrina, a 60-year-old retired financial worker who was holding homemade compote. “We are being told to evacuate.”
B.y 2:30 p.m., residents were leaving the neighborhood. A woman carrying a large gray cat rushed by. A man carrying a kitten walked a bicycle.
A series of booms thumped through the courtyard. It was unclear from which direction the sound came. When asked where the rockets were being fired from, a rebel who identified himself as Yenot gave a long, slow shrug. “They can come from five to 40 kilometers,” he said. “Who knows?”
In a leafy courtyard down the street from where shells landed at School No. 51, residents gathered around park benches. They had been told to evacuate, but few had anywhere to go, or any way to get there.
Dima, a timid boy of 7, stood with his mother.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” his mother, Marta, answered, stroking his head. “We’ll see.”