UKRAINE-CRISIS/AVDIYIVKA Ukrainian frontline town scarred by shelling

Record ID: 150411

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/AVDIYIVKA Ukrainian frontline town scarred by shelling
  • Date: 7th June 2015
  • Summary: AVDIYIVKA, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE (JUNE 7, 2015) (REUTERS) WOMAN WALKING AWAY FROM DAMAGED BUILDING DAMAGED LETTERS WITH THE NAME OF SHOP GROUP OF MAN ENTERING DAMAGED APARTMENT BLOCK BUILDING SHATTERED WINDOWS DAMAGED APARTMENT BLOCK SHOP WITH SOME WINDOWS COVERED WITH WOODEN PANELS LETTERS ON WALL READING (Russian): 'GOD SAVE AVDIYIVKA' BOY ON SWING NEXT TO APC LETTERS
  • Embargoed: 22nd June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1NFFPAXX2CR753DR5X2W1LZM9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A town on the frontline between Ukrainian government forces and rebel-held positions bears scars of recent shelling hitting residential and commercial areas.
    Ukraine says the shelling of Avdiyivka, which is held by government forces, was by the rebels, although that is not confirmed by residents, who blame both the Ukrainian army and Russia-backed separatists for violence, a Reuters witness said.
    "God, save Avdiyivka," someone has written on a wall of a damaged apartment block.
    Several apartment blocks were damaged this week as shells hit the streets, residents said.
    Avdiyivka is situated just several kilometres to the north from rebel-held town of Donetsk.
    On Sunday (June 7) people were seen walking in the streets of the town, where signs on walls show directions to a nearest bomb shelter.
    In the end of June Avdiyivka's major coke-producing factory owned by Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest came under shelling that killed one person. Producing 40 percent of Ukraine's coke, Metinvest factory is the main employer in the town and has become a target for the separatists since they took up arms against the government last April.
    Earlier this week Ukraine said the separatists had launched an assault on government-held town of Maryinka, a town 15 km (9 miles) west of Donetsk which had a pre-conflict population of about 9,900.
    But the separatists denied this, saying 15 people had been killed when government troops fired artillery into rebel-held territory nearby.
    The fighting in Maryinka went far beyond the regular low-level skirmishing that has occasionally flared since a shaky ceasefire was brokered in February by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.
    The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine on Friday (June 5) said the security situation in eastern Ukraine had deteriorated in recent days with both sides of the conflict putting civilians at risk.
    In Moscow, the Kremlin immediately took the side of the separatists, accusing the Ukrainian armed forces of carrying out provocative actions.
    Kiev and its NATO allies accuse Russia of sending weapons and troops to fight on behalf of separatists who control part of two provinces in eastern Ukraine.
    Moscow, which seized and annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula last year, denies its troops are participating.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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