Donetsk,DNR. In what has become a daily ritual of “listening to the ground,” residents of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk are under shelling from the central government troops in Kiev.
Local residents reported that the Kiev Poroshenko government troops have been shelling northern outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk since yesterday evening, the DNR Army Spokesperson Eduard Basurin from the Donetsk People’s Republic stated.
“Since 21:00, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been shelling the Spartak suburb area, near Donetsk Airport. More than 30 artillery shells of 122-mm caliber, as well as 82-mm and 120-mm mortar rounds have been fired,” Basurin was quoted as saying by the Donetsk News Agency.
The Kiev Poroshenko government’s troops have been regularly shelling the self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine despite the so-called Easter Ceasefire that was agreed by the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation in Minsk and was to go into effect on April 13.
Independent analysts see this as a lead up to the next meeting in Minsk today, where both sides will again address the so-called Minsk II agreement which promises autonomy, amnesty and all foreign soldiers to leave Ukrainian territory.
The new Trump administration has promised Moscow to pressure Kiev to keep its promises or withdraw funding of the Poroshenko government. Kiev has said it intends first to retake border control prior to discussion of any elections or amnesty. This is seen as a guarantee of the talks failing, as it is not an agreeded upon solution to the current situation.