2 civilians killed in fighting in Donetsk

FE Team | Published: September 18, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

DONETSK, Sept 17 (agencies): Fierce gunbattles erupted around the Ukrainian rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Wednesday, with two civilians killed just a day after lawmakers in Kiev held out an offer of self-rule to the pro-Russian separatists.
Heavy shelling has been reported around the flashpoint eastern industrial hub almost daily despite the warring sides signing up to a ceasefire deal almost two weeks ago.
Donetsk city hall said two civilians were killed near a market that lies just a few kilometres (miles) away from the battleground at the airport and was left in ruins by shelling earlier this week.
"A man died on the third floor," said 52-year-old businessman Alexander Dudnik as he recounted how a rocket slammed into a building in the working-class Kievsky district.
"He wasn't able to walk. Unfortunately he didn't stand a chance of surviving, because the flames were so big that nobody could rescue him as he burned inside."
Pro-Moscow rebels have so far given Kiev's apparent olive branch a cautious welcome but also defiantly insisted it would not stop their fight for full independence as part of "Novorossiya" ("New Russia").
Lawmakers unanimously approved the "special status" law just moments before they ratified a landmark EU pact that steers Ukraine decisively away from Russia's sphere of influence.
And Moscow, virulently opposed to Ukraine's pro-Western shift, signalled it had no intention of backing down in the most serious standoff with the West since the Cold War.
It announced plans Tuesday to send more troops to Crimea, which it invaded and swiftly annexed in March, in apparent retaliation for US-led war games under way in western Ukraine.
 "Ukrainian army units are keeping the ceasefire," National Security and Defence Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters.
"But illegal military groups and Russian troops continue to fire at the positions of the anti-terrorist forces, particularly near Donetsk airport."
Donetsk city council said the two civilians were killed and another three injured near a market, which had also been a target of heavy shelling earlier this week.
A total of 30 civilians and soldiers have been killed in eastern Ukraine since a truce was signed on September 5, most of them in the Donetsk region, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.