At least 24 civilians were killed and another 85 injured as the city of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine was heavily shelled by Kiev forces on Friday and Saturday, media reported.
The bombardment of the city, home to over 400,000 people, began at around 06:00 PM local time on Friday and went on during the night and through Saturday morning.
Kiev forces hit 22 buildings, including a school and a kindergarten. Self-defense forces told the LifeNews Channel that 24 have died, adding that the death toll may rise as shelling of the city continues.
An eyewitness told RT that around 10 people were killed at a bus stop in the Yubileynoe village, which is also a part of Lugansk.
“Peaceful civilians were torn into pieces at the bus
stop,” Viktor said, adding that the attack by Kiev forces
was “aimed exclusively at the civilian population.”
“They’re targeting private houses... There are no
checkpoints, no troops, no self-defense forces there,” he
said.
The press service of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s
Republic claimed that government forces used mortars and heavy
artillery in their assault. Five people died on Friday and 15
more on Saturday.
“It was the worst shelling of Lugansk that I’ve ever seen,”
said Aleksey Toporov from the Lugansk People’s Republic, as cited
by the Russkaya Vesna website.
#Луганск. Стадион Авангард после попадания мины. Разбитая трибуна, осколки и воронка в газоне. pic.twitter.com/XjMPUd2Ggc
— Lugansk News Today (@LUGANSK_TODAY) July 26, 2014
Shelling over night has damaged several power lines, said
Manolisa Pilavova, first deputy mayor of Lugansk.
“At the moment, about 60 percent of people are without
electricity,” Pilavova told Interfax-Ukraine.
The intensity of Ukrainian fire decreased midday on Saturday,
after self-defense forces counter-attacked Ukrainian military
positions in the Lugansk airport, the press service of the
Lugansk People’s Republic said. Airborn units, who were stationed
there, suffered “serious damage.”
Kiev’s military crackdown on the southeast of Ukraine started in
mid-April, after residents in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions
refused to recognize the coup-imposed authorities in Kiev and
demanded federalization.
The Ukrainian military and National Guard resorted to airstrikes
and shelling in their struggle against self-defense forces in
Donetsk and Lugansk.
On July 10, Ukraine’s deputy health minister said 478 civilians
have been killed in the conflict, with nearly 1,400 people
receiving injuries, but the death toll has surely increased
drastically since then.
Lugansk stadium pic.twitter.com/XBx8nQDLEp
— idaltae (@idaltae) July 26, 2014