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| Europe |
| 11 dead in bus attack in eastern Ukraine |
| 2015-01-13 |
| An attack on a passenger bus in eastern Ukraine Tuesday killed 11 people, likely dealing the final blow to hopes that a short-lived and shaky cease-fire could take hold. Across Donetsk, the city that Russian-backed separatists call their capital, explosions and the sound of shells whistling overhead are again unnerving the local population. The holiday period was spent in relative tranquility after a new truce was called in December between government troops and Russian-backed militia. But by late last week, that uneasy calm was steadily unraveling. In the single largest loss of life so far this year, civilians traveling on a commuter bus from Donetsk were killed Tuesday afternoon by what Ukrainians say were rockets fired from a Grad launcher in rebel territory. Regional authorities loyal to Kiev said the bus was passing a Ukrainian army checkpoint at the time, putting it in the line of fire. Leading rebel representative Denis Pushilin denied responsibility for the attack. The warring sides are now trading accusations over who is responsible for the breakdown in the truce that led to Tuesday's deaths. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said that separatist attacks in recent days suggest an attempted onslaught to push back the frontline is under way. Separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko says Ukraine's armed forces unilaterally resumed hostilities and that his fighters would respond in kind. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Stories like this are weird. The Donbas rebels and Ukrainian military have been pounding each other with artillery for weeks. |
| Posted by: badanov 2015-01-13 21:32 |
| #1 Leading rebel representative Denis Pushilin denied responsibility for the attack "it could be anybody's GRAD launcher, I mean they're laying around here like |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-01-13 19:12 |