DONETSK (Sputnik) — The Ukrainian army shelled a village near Donetsk while a Victory Day parade was held in the city.
"During the parade dedicated to the 72nd anniversary of the Great Victory, from the positions of 36 separate marine brigade… the 'Azov' regiment between 9:35 a.m. to 10:25 a.m. [06:30-7:25 GMT] the settlement of Bezimenne [south of the DPR] had been shelled. The enemy had used artillery caliber 152 millimeters, tanks and mortars caliber 120 millimeters. About 70 ammunition was fired," the spokesperson told reporters.
Azov is one of the so-called volunteer battalions, financed from private sources, which participated in the military Kiev-led operation in the southeastern Ukraine. Kiev later decided that there should be no illegal armed formations in the country, and the Ministry of Defense offered the volunteer battalions to join the Ukrainian armed forces.
The Russian Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the members of the Azov battalion over the suspected cases of kidnapping, torture and use of prohibited means and methods of warfare.
Kiev launched a special military operation in Ukraine’s southeast in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of what was considered as a coup. In February 2015, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire after the talks brokered by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine – the so-called Normandy Format – in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
