Massive Shelling Continues in Donetsk 1 Day Before Elections: City Council

The tense situation persists in the town of Donetsk, while the sounds of gunfire explosions are heard throughout the city during the day, the Donetsk City Council said in a record published on the state website Saturday.
“At the time of 6 p.m. local time [16:00 GMT] the problem in Donetsk is tense. Cannonade and sounds of explosions didn’t stop in the town during the day,” the statement read.

It was also reported that the experts managed to replace gas supply with some homes in the Leninsky district of Donetsk, along with some electricity wires, previously damaged by shelling in the Kuibyshev district. Earlier on Saturday, the Donetsk authorities have reported artillery shelling in the middle of the city.

On September 5, in a meeting of representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Minsk, a ceasefire agreement was signed between Kiev and Ukraine’s self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Additional ceasefire provisions were agreed upon during the 2nd meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine held in the Belarusian capital on September 19.
The independence supporters have repeatedly reported the violations of the ceasefire agreed in Minsk.

Southeastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on the eve of local elections. © RIA Novosti. Alexei Kudenko

The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) have set the elections for their regional leaders and legislative bodies for November 2. The DPR and the LPR want full independence for the entire territory within the borders of the respective administrative entities in Ukraine.