Ukrainian troops heavily shelled the city of Slavyansk.

The situation in the city of Slavyansk, Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine, remained tense as fighting continued on June 1st.

Shelling by Ukrainian forces has damaged the "Sails of Hope" orphanage and the High Voltage Scientific Research Institute in the city.

Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint near the city of Slavyansk. (Source: AFP/VNA)

According to a representative of the Slavyansk militia, the windows of the children's camp building were damaged and one of the walls was riddled with bullet holes.

However, the children here were evacuated to another city last week, so there were no casualties.

Meanwhile, at the scientific research institute, almost all the windows were shattered when a landmine exploded on the street right in front of the building.

The shelling disrupted the tram network, and some areas of the city also lost internet access.

According to some sources, five people were injured in the shelling, and fighter jets continued to circle the city's skies.

Representatives of the self-defense militia said that two nights earlier, the city of Slavyansk had been placed on high alert as the adjacent village of Semenovka was also subjected to intense shelling by Ukrainian security forces.

Meanwhile, that same afternoon, a march took place in the city of Odessa protesting the punitive operations of the interim Ukrainian government in the southeastern region of the country.

With slogans such as "No war," "No existence of fascism...", hundreds of people, including children, protested in front of the trade union building to commemorate those killed in the bloody clashes in Odessa on May 2nd, and to call for "an end to the Ukrainian authorities' punitive actions against Donbass."

Earlier, on May 2nd, a bloody clash occurred in Odessa between members of the "Right Wing" group and militias called "Maidan Self-Defense Forces" who had come from Kyiv, and protesters supporting the federalization of Ukraine and the recognition of Russian as the national language.

These forces burned down protesters' tents in Odessa, set fire to the union building where a petition for federalization was being collected, killing at least 48 people and injuring more than 200, although some sources suggest the death toll could be as high as 116.

According to VNA