“It is clear who shelled Mariupol, from which districts and where the artillery is located. As far as I know, the shelling was carried out from Grad [rocket launchers]. Our militia units have no artillery there that could reach the site of the attack,” Denis Pushilin said, adding that “Ukraine tried to provoke a military development".
Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine's southeastern city of Mariupol came under shelling. According to the latest estimates by the city council, the attack claimed the lives of 27 people, including two children, while 97 persons sustained injuries.
Kiev authorities blamed the Donbas militia for the shelling, while the DPR denied any involvement, stating that the attack came from Mariupol's western district of Stary Krym, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are stationed.
Mariupol, a port city of nearly 500,000 residents in the south of Donetsk Region, is located outside of the main conflict zone in southeastern Ukraine.
The controversy concerning Mariupol comes in light of the recent upsurge in violence in eastern Ukraine. Clashes between Kiev forces and eastern Ukraine militia intensified in the first weeks of 2015, despite a ceasefire agreement reached in September, and a “silence regime” introduced in the region on December 9.
