Moscow has called the bombardment of a busy market in Donetsk a “barbaric terrorist act”
The aftermath of the Ukrainian shelling in Donetsk, Russia, January 21, 2024 © Sputnik / Viktoria Velenskaya
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the attack against the capital of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, but refused to pin the blame for the shelling that left at least 27 civilians killed and over two dozen injured including several children.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including today’s shelling of the city of Donetsk in Ukraine,” the spokesperson for the UN chief said in a brief boilerplate statement on Sunday night.
“Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law, are unacceptable and must stop immediately,” it added.
The number of fatalities from the Ukrainian shelling of a busy market in Donetsk on Sunday has climbed to 27 people, according to the latest tally by the DPR head Denis Pushilin. Another 25 people were injured, some of them in a serious condition, including “penetrating wounds in the area of vital organs and traumatic amputation of limbs,” according to the official. Two children who were wounded in the bombardment have been described as being in moderate condition.
Moscow has called on governments and international bodies to condemn this “treacherous attack on the civilian population,” with Russia’s Foreign Ministry stating that failure to do so would be a sign of “silent approval of the murders of civilians” that would only encourage Kiev “to commit even more bloody atrocities.”
The shelling, which hit the Kirov District in the southwest of Donetsk, was carried out with the use of 152mm and NATO-standard 155mm munitions.
“This again confirms [the West’s] direct involvement in the conflict and makes it complicit in the criminal acts of the Zelensky regime, which has once again displayed its inhumanity and hatred towards innocent people,” the ministry added.
