DONETSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2022) The number of civilian casualties in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) more than doubled after Ukraine was equipped with NATO's long-range rocket systems and Tochka-U tactical missile systems, a military expert to the Joint Center on Control and Coordination of the ceasefire regime (JCCC) Sergey Pereverzev told Sputnik on Sunday.
"Since the start of the special operation, the DPR's territory has been shelled over 30 times with Tochka-U missiles, there were more than 400 cases of shelling with 155mm NATO munitions, and the enemy used HIMARS MLRS more than five times. We should note that once the (Ukrainian forces) started using NATO weapons, there has been a 2.5-fold increase in civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure," Pereverzev said.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. Moscow and Kiev have made several attempts to negotiate a ceasefire, with a couple of meetings taking place in Turkey, and both exchanged several dozens of war prisoners. However, no agreement has been reached so far and the talks have been paused on Kiev's initiative.
