The United Nations condemns and calls on Ukraine to stop attacks on civilians

According to Ria Novosti on January 21, the official representative of the United Nations Secretary-General said that Mr. Antonio Guterres strongly condemned all attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in the city of Donetsk.

On the morning of January 21 (local time), the Ukrainian army launched a major artillery attack on a market in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk, killing at least 25 people. According to the head of Donetsk Denis Pushlin, about 20 people were injured, including 2 children who are in critical condition.

The attack took place on Sunday, when the market is most crowded, Pushlin said. According to him, the area was hit by combined artillery fire from 152mm and 155mm caliber from the Kurakhovsky and Krasnogorovosky directions.

Donetsk officials called the incident "another dark day" in the city's history.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the shelling of Donetsk on the morning of January 21 a terrorist attack against Russian civilians. According to the ministry, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a targeted attack using multiple rocket systems on the market and shops. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the shelling was carried out from Avdeevka, in the Ukrainian-controlled area, and used weapons supplied by the West.

Russian diplomats say the West's desire to "cause strategic defeat" to Russia, amid Ukraine's heavy losses, has pushed Kiev to "increasingly reckless steps", including acts of terrorism, serious violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that such terrorist attacks clearly demonstrate Kiev's lack of political will for peace and conflict resolution through diplomatic means.

The shelling of Donetsk will be one of the main topics of the UN Security Council meeting proposed by Russia on January 22, said Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.