Interfax: Nineteen Donetsk residents killed in 24 hours – Donetsk republic

DONETSK. Oct 7 (Interfax) – Nineteen civilians have been killed in shelling attacks in Donetsk over the past 24 hours, an Interior Ministry spokesman of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic told Interfax.

“According to our sources, 19 civilians have been killed,” he said.

He said shells hit the city’s Kuibyshevsky, Kirovsky and Kiyevsky districts. “Regarding the Kuibyshevsky and Kiyevsky districts, shells mostly hit residential areas near the Donetsk airport. Shells that hit the Kirovsky district must have been launched from other Ukrainian positions,” the press center said.

“Casualties have also been reported in other localities and other districts of Donetsk,” the spokesman said.

The Donetsk City Council announced on Tuesday morning that four civilians had been killed and at least ten wounded.

It said that the situation was extremely serious in Donetsk as of 2 p.m. local time (3 p.m. Moscow time) with shells hitting the Kiyevsky district again.

“Reports are arriving that residential buildings were destroyed and caught fire in the northern sector of the city. Unconfirmed reports suggest there were civilian casualties. These reports are being verified,” the City Council said.

The Donetsk republic’s defense ministry reported, meanwhile, that the Ukrainian artillery had dealt a fresh strike on Donetsk residential areas, damaging private houses. No casualties were reported.

Shells exploded on three streets and two houses caught fire. The town of Gladkovka was targeted, too. A shell broke into a house through the wall and landed unexploded in a room where a pregnant woman was,” a defense ministry spokesman said.

Immediate reports indicate there were no casualties. Ambulance vehicles and emergency situations teams have been dispatched to the scene.