DONETSK, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – The eastern Ukrainian town of Kirovske has been shelled over the weekend by the Ukrainian forces, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) headquarters has told RIA Novosti.
"Kirovske was shelled several times on Saturday and Sunday. The town's post office was hit, with four people killed," a DPR headquarters representative said.
Several residential buildings were also damaged, with one building burned down as a result of the attacks.
Kirovske is a town 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) to the east of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, with the population of some 30,000 people. Independence supporters of eastern regions maintain their presence in the town, repelling the attacks of the Kiev forces.
On Saturday, DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko announced a "silence regime" in the region. He added that the withdrawal of the artillery and military hardware would begin after the "silence regime" held for five days.
An armed conflict in southeastern Ukraine began in mid-April when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters of the country's southeast. Almost 3,700 people have been killed and over 8,800 have been wounded since the start of the confrontation, according to UN estimates.
On September 5, the opposing sides agreed to a ceasefire as a result of a Contact Group meeting in Minsk. The referendum that specifies the steps for the ceasefire implementation was adopted on September 19. The sides have subsequently accused each other of repeated violation of the truce regime.
