Ukraine army shells Donetsk kindergarten, injures 1

The Ukrainian army has shelled a kindergarten in the restive region of Donetsk in the east of the country, injuring one employee.

"An artillery shell hit a park located on the territory of the kindergarten. Shrapnel from the shell hit several rooms and broke windows and doors. A kindergarten employee was injured. She is now hospitalized,” Donetsk News Agency, which is affiliated to pro-Russia forces, reported on Friday.

The outlet added that no children were in the kindergarten when the attack was carried out.

Meanwhile, an official from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic stated that the Ukrainian army’s attacks on populated areas in Donetsk have left 7 dead and injured 15.

"A shelling attack in Gorlovka yesterday killed in a private house three children — a one-year-old boy and [two] girls aged 6 and 12 years," said Eduard Basurin, a local official in Donetsk, adding, "A total of seven civilians have been killed over the past day and 15 injured."

The new fatalities came despite a ceasefire deal recently inked between the warring sides in eastern Ukraine.

East Ukraine ceasefire deal

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko were in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on February 11-12, for marathon talks over a ceasefire deal.

Reports say the negotiating sides agreed on the withdrawal of heavy weapons from Ukraine’s frontlines and a ceasefire to begin from February 15.

Back in September 2014, representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk signed another ceasefire deal in the same city. However, the truce was violated on an almost daily basis by both the Ukrainian military and pro-Russia forces and thus failed to bear any practical result.

Source of conflict

Donetsk and Lugansk are two mainly Russian-speaking regions in eastern Ukraine, which have been convulsed by deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in April last year to crush the pro-Russians.

In May 2014, the situation in the two flashpoint regions started to worsen as residents voted in local referendums overwhelmingly supporting independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.

The fighting has taken a heavy toll on thousands of people. More than 5,500 people have died and some 12,200 wounded in the conflict, the UN says. Around 1.5 million people have been also forced from their homes over the past months of turmoil.

FNR/KA/SS

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