12 Killed in Shelling of Humanitarian Aid Center in Donetsk

Local Editor

At least 12 civilians were killed in Donetsk after Ukrainian troops shelled the city from a neutral zone north of the airport, the republic's officials said. Kiev blamed rebels and called the attack as an attempt to undermine the Minsk peace talks.

According to the Donetsk People's Republic's [DNR] Defense Ministry, two civilians were killed at a trolleybus stop, five others died while waiting in a queue for humanitarian aid and five more were killed in the shelling of the city's Azotnoye district on Friday.

"The cultural center giving out humanitarian aid was shelled, there are victims," the city's administration told local media.

The ministry stated that the attack was carried out from the nearby town of Opytnoye, which was "a neutral zone located to the north of Donetsk Airport". Officials added that Ukrainian military forces "approached it, shelled the city, and then moved back to their positions".

Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said that Russia's Investigative Committee had launched a criminal investigation into the incident. On the basis of the preliminary data, the involvement of Ukrainian troops and the National Guard are being checked first, he added.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian headquarters had temporarily stopped aid distribution across Donetsk in order to keep locals and volunteers safe.

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council press service representative Vladimir Polevoy claimed that Friday's series of blasts in Donetsk was a "provocation" by the rebel forces, staged in order to "disrupt the peace process and the meeting of the Contact Group in Minsk".He added that Ukrainian artillery "never did and does not shell the residential areas" of the city.

However, Lugansk and Donetsk representatives declared that it was the Ukrainian representatives who failed to attend the latest round of Minsk talks.

While representatives of eastern Ukraine came to Minsk on Friday morning ready to continue dialogue, Kiev's representative - former Ukrainian President Lionid Kuchma - failed to show up.

Before their departure from Minsk, the republics' envoys said in a joint statement that they were ready for a ceasefire if Kiev followed through with its end of the bargain.

"At the moment, DPR is ready for a ceasefire, but only for a mutual one," the joint statement read. "DPR is also ready to start the pullback of heavy artillery and multiple-launch systems to positions established by the Minsk memorandum, in accordance with the plan, but only if Ukraine is ready too."

Yet representatives warned that unless Kiev honors its commitment, the fighting would go on.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team