- Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/OSCE OSCE monitors witness sustained shelling in eastern Ukraine
- Date: 27th July 2015
- Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF BUILDING HOUSING OSCE OFFICE IN KIEV SIGN OF OSCE ABOVE ENTRANCE SPOKESMAN FOR OSCE SPECIAL MONITORING MISSION TO UKRAINE, MICHAEL BOCIURKIW READING DOCUMENT PAPERS IN BOCIURKIW'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESMAN FOR OSCE SPECIAL MONITORING MISSION TO UKRAINE, MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SAYING: "Yesterday, Sunday at around 1
- Embargoed: 11th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAZLNPJF4V4WBI0AM28WDUCF81
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
PLEASE NOTE: PART AUDIO AS INCOMING
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have reported witnessing sustained shelling in eastern Ukraine, near the town of Schastye on Sunday (July 26).
Schastye, situated 170 kilometres (105 miles) north-east of the big regional centre Donetsk is under control of the Ukrainian troops.
Footage of the Ukrainian 1+1 TV channel filmed there on Sunday shows Ukrainian servicemen hiding in trench shelters from rebel fire and firing back from automatic machine guns and grenade launchers.
"Several groups from their (separatist) side carried out a raid on our positions. They used mortars, grenade launchers - as usual. It is an ordinary provocation. The commander agreed and we returned fire. We were close, very close," said Viktor Nikolyuk, commander of Ukrainian 92nd brigade based in Schastye.
Spokesman for the OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine, Michael Bociurkiw, said mortar and automatic grenade launcher were used in the incident, with one shell striking close to a bus carrying civilians.
"Yesterday, Sunday at around 1400 local time we had two vehicles with five monitors and they were on the so-called LPR (Luhansk People's Republic) side of the Schastye bridge and around that time there began sustained shelling, this included mortar and automatic grenade launcher fire from the north," said Bociurkiw speaking from the OSCE Kiev office.
"And while they were there they also observed one of the ... at least one of the shells hit within 40 meters of a bus carrying civilians, so it was a very tense situation," Bociurkiw added.
Though a fragile ceasefire seems to be holding, shelling incidents remain frequent in various locations along the separation line between Kiev troops and pro-Russian rebels. More than 6,500 people have been killed in the conflict in Ukraine's industrialized Russian-speaking east. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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