Ten reportedly killed in Mariupol shelling by militants

Photo: Reuters

According to preliminary data, ten people were killed as the result of the shelling of Mariupol by militants in the early morning on Saturday, head of Donetsk regional police department Viacheslav Abroskin has said.

"Ten people have been killed as the result of the shelling of Mariupol's residential area in the streets of Kyivska, Olimpiyska, Pershoho Travnia by militants. The details are being specified," he wrote on Facebook on Saturday morning.

According to him, the city police has been put on high alerted. A municipal investigation team is working at the site.

The Azov special regiment said on its VKontakte account that more than 10 people had been killed in Mariupol. "More than 10 civilian fatalities have been confirmed at the moment. Among them is a family, including a father, a mother, and a child. […] Information on those injured has yet to be verified," it said.

The Ukrainian authorities say that the city had been shelled with Grad multiple rocket launchers. The Mariupol city council's website reported with reference to the headquarters of the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine that the Eastern neighborhood had been fired upon with Grad multiple rocket launchers from the populated areas of Sakhanka and Zayichenko.

It was reported earlier that the local civil society group Mariupol's Defense had said the city's eastern outskirts had been fired upon by militants. "There is no direct threat of the city's seizure or assault," it said on Facebook.

The Azov special regiment said on its VKontakte account: "09:34 Mariupol was shelled with Grad (or possibly Uragan) multiple rocket launchers. The engagement area includes residential neighborhoods, a private housing community, and a market in the city's Ordzhonikidzevsky district. A lot of people have been injured."

The press center of the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine confirmed the reports on the shelling of Mariupol, saying that militants fired "Grad multiple rocket launchers to shell the eastern outskirt of Mariupol."

"Some residential buildings on Olimpiyska Street have been destroyed, and information on casualties has yet to be verified," the press center said on Facebook.