January 24, 2015 – http://www.kyivpost.com
Russian-backed fighters shelled the Azov Sea port city of Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast, killing 29 people, most of them civilians, and wounding 93, according to the City Hall. Also, separatists killed one Ukrainian soldier, according to Channel 5. Mariupol one of the key cities that remains under Ukrainian control.
Shelling in Mariupol led to 29 people dead, most of them civilians. © Necro Mancer’s Twitter account
City Hall’s press service reports that three Russian Grad launchers fired 120 rockets into the city. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry says four of six launchers have already been destroyed.
“We’re clarifying the information. Police is up on alarm. City police office’s investigative group is working there,” said Vyacheslav Abroskin, head of Interior Ministry office in Donetsk Oblast.
The Azov Battalion confirmed this on its Facebook page. Moreover, it reported that Ukrainian post at the village of Vynogradne nearby was hit too, now it’s cut off the electricity supplies. Local gas station was also damaged.
Russians concentrated an army reserve, that includes additional artillery, near the Ukrainian city of Novoazovsk, 50 kilometers to the east from Mariupol. Most of the combatants involved in the reserve have been previously trained in Crimea and Russia, according to Informational Resistance, a media project devoted to covering the Donbas war.
Mariupol is home to some 460,000 residents, as well as some major industrial assets. City’s Azovstal and Ilyich Iron and Steel Works are in the list of the nation’s biggest steel makers and a part of the billionaire Rinat Akmetov’s business empire.
VIdeo: The attack in Mariupol today killing at least 27 people