Breakaway Donetsk Region Reports Ceasefire Breach By Ukrainian Forces At Horlivka Mine

Breakaway Donetsk Region Reports Ceasefire Breach by Ukrainian Forces at Horlivka Mine

Ukrainian forces shelled a mine located in the Horlivka town of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) while 20 workers where on shift, the DPR Ministry of Coal and Energy said in a press release on Wednesday

DONETSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2020) Ukrainian forces shelled a mine located in the Horlivka town of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) while 20 workers where on shift, the DPR Ministry of Coal and Energy said in a press release on Wednesday.

Horlivka, located on the contact line some 25 miles north to Donetsk, is a regular target of shelling since the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014.

"Armed groups of Ukraine opened massive fire at the drainage mechanism of the '2-bis' mine. The situation became so dangerous that 20 miners who were on the morning shift performing underground works were urgently lifted to the surface and sheltered in the mine's bomb shelter at 11.15 [08:15 GMT]," the press release read.

According to the ministry, the mine's water pumping systems were switched to an automated mode as the shelling is ongoing.

"There were no direct hits on the enterprise, but the shells of the Ukrainian forces are exploding in the immediate vicinity of the mine's surface," as stated in the press release.

The ministry said there were no casualties at this point.

The conflict in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known together as Donbas, began in 2014. These regions proclaimed independence after what they considered to be a coup in Kiev, and the Ukrainian government launched an offensive in retaliation. Despite the parties agreeing to ceasefire as a result of multiple rounds of international mediation via the so-called Normandy Format and the Trilateral Contact Group, occasional shelling on the line of control still take place.