Worsening of Situation near Donetsk
In Donbass, the worst aggression in the past year and a half has just taken place. Kiev forces have not stopped shooting at the DPR for more than a day. At the same time, they are using weapons that are prohibited by the Minsk Agreement, specifically heavy artillery and certain rocket based systems. Five people have been killed and around ten wounded. Donetsk, Makiyivka and Avdeevka are continuously under fire. There, shells have hit a hospital and a school. And all this is happening while the Ukrainian president is visiting Germany. Where Poroshenko is meeting with Angela Merkel. There has been a noticeable decrease in Western Media coverage on the war in Ukraine, which has been confirmed by the number of journalists covering the meeting. Of course the Minsk agreement was the subject of the meeting and it seems that Poroshenko has finally heard what he has been hoping for while preparing for this trip. Chancellor Merkel said that the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine isn't working, thus allowing Poroshenko to happily agree on the extension of sanctions, by the EU against Russia. Our military correspondent Alexander Sladkov on why Kiev needs the bloodshed right now. The hottest place right now is the village of Avdeevka, a suburb in the North of Donetsk. Now, the main fighting is taking place in the industrial area. Ukrainian troops, without authorization, took the so-called 'grey zone', a supposedly neutral area, in clear violation of the Minsk agreements. However, now they are being pushed out. Due to many defeats at the front, Ukraine's army has begun firing at civilians more frequently. Today, Ukrainian artillery bombed Secondary school №32 in Makeyevka. Five hundred students and teachers were put in harm's way. "We saw only one explosion. It was 300-400 meters away from the school. It was very loud, and very strong, the children were scared, and they began screaming. Of course, we evacuated the children from the main building. The children made it down into the basement in 7 minutes. And then we started phoning their parents. The parents started picking them up about 30 minutes later. The teachers instruct us on how to behave in case of an explosion". Another shell landed on the territory of the Children's Hospital in Makeyevka. An elderly woman was killed. She was an administrator there. Two employees of the heating company were taken away by ambulance. They were here, on the territory. She must have opened the gates for them and was close to the bombing. The Children's Hospital, Children's Clinic, is 100 meters away. Ukrainian troops have been controlling the 'gray zone' for almost a year, but now control is slowly changing hands. They are being pushed back, making it impossible to shell the capital of the DPR. Fighting continues in this industrial area near Avdeevka.
