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Shelling, fierce clashes kill 34 in eastern Ukraine

The file photo shows a shelled bus after clashes between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russia forces in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.

The shelling of a trolleybus station in addition to clashes in restive eastern part of Ukraine have claimed the lives of more than 30 people.

Ukrainian sources said on Thursday that 34 people were killed in the east as clashes flared up in the strife-torn region.

Earlier in the day, 13 civilians were killed and dozens injured as a trolleybus station came under shelling in the eastern province of Donetsk.

The rest of the casualties belong to the fierce fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russia forces over the embattled Donetsk International Airport.

The high rate of casualties came just hours after the Normandy Quartet – Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France – urged the implementation of the Minsk ceasefire agreement after the end of negotiations in the German capital, Berlin.

In another deadly incident on January 13, a dozen civilians were killed and 17 others were injured in a rocket attack on a bus in the city of Volnovakha, Donetsk.

Back in September, the representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk inked a ceasefire deal in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The truce has been almost daily violated by both the Ukrainian military and pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine.

Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine and with mainly Russian-speaking populations, have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev’s military operation started in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests.

Violence intensified in May 2014 after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.

The fighting has left more than 5,000 people killed and over a million displaced, the UN says.

FNR/HSN/SS


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