Ukraine: Seven people killed in bombings near Mariupol

(Baonghean.vn) - On Tuesday, October 14, bombings took place on the outskirts of the port city of Mariupol, killing 7 civilians and injuring 17 others.

Seven civilians were killed in bomb attacks on the outskirts of Mariupol while attending a ceremony on Tuesday, the mayor of the port city of Mariupol said. In an official statement released on the same day, Oleg Kalinine, a spokesman for the city administration, said seven people were killed and 17 others were injured. Earlier reports said five people were killed and 10 others were injured. Mariupol is an important port city and occupies a strategic position in southeastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers on the streets of Mariupol on September 20. Photo: Alexander Khudoteply

Rebels fired on the village of Sartana on the outskirts of Mariupol. Several bombs exploded in the village where a ceremony was taking place, the mayor said. The bombings signaled a resurgence of fighting in the last major rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine, which remains under Kiev's control.

The city has been relatively calm since early September, except for a shell that hit a checkpoint at the entrance to Mariupol, killing a woman. If the separatists take Mariupol, they could link the Russian coast with the Crimean peninsula, which they seized in March.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian military spokesman Andri Lysenkho accused Russia of deploying a special military intelligence unit in Novoazovsk, a separatist-held coastal city 50 kilometers east of the port city of Mariupol. “The soldiers did not bother to hide that they were members of the Russian armed forces,” Andri Lysenkho said. Since the fighting in Ukraine broke out, the Kiev government and the West have repeatedly accused Moscow of sending troops into eastern Ukraine, while the Kremlin has always denied the information.

Chu Thanh– Liberation October 14