Donetsk under massive artillery fire - eye-witnesses

DONETSK, August 19 (Itar-Tass) - Several districts in east Ukraine’s Donetsk and the nearby town of Makeyevka came under the Ukrainian military’s massive artillery fire on Monday night, eye-witnesses said on Tuesday. “The massive shelling of Donetsk had intensified by 10:00 p.m. Moscow time. Explosions were heard from the Mariupol-Donetsk highway and the town of Ugledar. A residential quarter near the airport came under artillery fire,” eye-witnesses said. The town of Makeyevka was also subjected to the Ukrainian military’s shelling on Tuesday morning. The town’s technical railway station came under intensive artillery fire. Most of local residents descended into bomb shelters, eye-witnesses said. The Donetsk city council said that the town of Mospino had also been subjected to the Ukrainian army’s artillery fire. Artillery shells damaged or fully destroyed several residential buildings in the town. The shelling also set a local school on fire, completely destroying it. Water supply resumed in some districts of Donetsk, eye-witnesses said. Pro-Kiev troops and local militias in the eastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions are involved in fierce clashes as the Ukrainian armed forces are conducting a military operation to regain control over the breakaway regions, which on May 11 proclaimed their independence at local referendums. During the military operation, Kiev has used armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation. Many buildings have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have had to flee Ukraine’s embattled east. Related news on itar-tass.com