| Shelling of Donetsk, Russia | |
| Partof: | Spillover of the War in Donbas |
| Map: | File:Outline Map of Rostov Oblast.svg |
| Location: | Donetsk |
| Fatalities: | 1 civilian |
| Injuries: | 2 injured |
| Victim: | --> |
| Perpetrators: |
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| Susperp: | --> |
| Weapons: | Shelling |
| Numpart: | --> |
| Dfen: | --> |
On 13 July 2014, mortar shells fired from Ukrainian territory landed in the courtyard of a private home in the border town of Donetsk.[1] The shelling killed one civilian and injured two others.[2]
See main article: War in Donbas.
Pro-Russian protests began in the neighboring Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine in February 2014 and eventually escalated into an armed insurgency by April. The Ukrainian government launched counterattacks, and by July 2014, had retaken significant territory from the pro-Russian rebels.[3] [4]
See main article: Zelenopillya rocket attack. On Friday, 11 July, two days before the shelling, 36–37 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a Grad rocket bombardment.[5] [6] In response, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced that for "every soldier's life, the militants will pay with dozens and hundreds of their own."[1]
Up to six mortar shells exploded on Sunday, 13 July, in Donetsk, Russia, a town of 50,000 that shares the same name as the much larger Ukrainian city and is just 1 km away from the Ukraine-Russia border. The mortar shells landed in the courtyard of a private home, killing a 46-year-old man, while injuring two others.[2]
According to local officials, the shells were fired from Ukrainian territory.[7] Russian officials said that the border towns near Ukraine, which Ukraine claimed were being used by rebels, were hit in the past by Ukrainian fire.[8] A local government official said that the shelling happened around 9:20 AM.[9]
According to the daughter of the man who was killed in the shelling, she "woke up in the middle of the night" (thus contradicting the earlier report of attack happening at 9:20 AM) and heard her younger brother scream, then she ran out of the house, and heard her father scream. After that, she and her brother went to the porch and found her father, who was killed, missing an arm.
Ukraine denied responsibility for the shelling, claiming it was a false flag attack by pro-Russian militants. The Ukrainian National Guard said it was never deployed in the region in which the shelling occurred.
The incident increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine, with Russia vowing a "response". Russia said it would be considering "surgical strikes" to target Ukrainian military positions near the border, but that there would not be a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.[10]
Russia has asked military attaches from eighteen countries including the four other permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States – to visit the scene of the shelling.[11]
Military attaches from eleven member-states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and foreign journalists have inspected the areas that came under fire from Ukraine's territory. Germany's military attache, Brigadier General Reiner Schwalb stated "Russia does not conceal the events. Our task is to understand the situation,".[12]
Ukraine – Spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andriy Lysenko dismissed Russia's claims as "total nonsense" and denied that Ukrainian forces were behind the shelling.[15] Lysenko suggested that the rebels could have been behind the attack in order to provoke Moscow to intervene on their behalf.[15] President Petro Poroshenko further accused Russia of sending its army across the border and attacking Ukrainian servicemen.[15]
United States – State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki commented during a briefing held on 15 July on the incident. She said Russia failed to provide sufficient evidence confirming that Ukraine was indeed behind the July 13 cross-border mortar shelling.[16]