Pushilin: Ukrainian army block the arrival of the humanitarian aid to the DPR’s people

Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin has stressed that the Ukrainian army has  blocked the arrival of humanitarian aid to the people of the DPR, according to TASS News Agency.

The agency quoted Pushilin  as saying to the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Monday that the falling fragments of a Tochka-U missile  killed at least 20 people, including children, and left another nine injured in Donetsk.

“Although the Tochka-U missile was downed, its falling fragments caused much damage and civilian casualties, which is the worst thing. People were just standing in line at an ATM machine, there were people at a public transport stop. According to preliminary reports, 20 people were killed and nine suffered injuries. There are children among the dead,” he pointed out.

According to Pushilin, the missile “carried a cluster charge.” He added that “had it not been downed, it would have caused a lot more casualties.”

Eighteen people were taken to the hospital after the missile fired by the Ukrainian military had fallen in downtown Donetsk, the DPR Health Ministry said.

Earlier TASS quoted  the Russian Defense Ministry  as saying Ukrainian nationalists carried out an act of sabotage at the Avdeyevsky Coke and Chemical Plant outside Donetsk by setting it on fire.

“Militants from battalions of nationalists carried out an act of sabotage at the Avdeyevsky Coke and Chemical Plant in the Donetsk Region,” the source said. “A fire erupted as a result of their act of sabotage and it currently emanates an acrid and toxic smoke that keeps spreading over the nearby residential areas.”

According to the source, “it is impossible to put out the fire at the moment due to continuing combat actions.”

Tensions escalated along the line of contact in Donbass on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics reported the heaviest shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in months, which caused civilian casualties and damaged civilian infrastructure facilities. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country.

Compiled by: Basma Qaddour