Angela Bachevskaya07:07, 02.02.24

Svitan noted that the Russians are shelling crowded places in Donetsk, such as squares, bus stops and markets.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin again spoke about the need to demilitarize Ukraine and “remove” Ukrainian troops “from vital settlements of the Russian Federation.” Military expert, reserve colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Roman Svitan believes that this is connected with the upcoming elections and is directly related to Russian shelling of occupied Donetsk . 

“Everything is very simple, this is a military election program. Now the main motive is clear why the Russians are shelling civilians in Donetsk. For the last few weeks, shelling has been going on specifically against the civilian population who remained in Donetsk – moreover, most of them are pro-Ukrainian, waiting for Ukraine. The pro-Russian population is already a long time ago beyond the Urals, making a place for themselves there. But the pro-Ukrainian one remains in Donetsk, and the Russians have been specifically shelling places where civilians are concentrated for several weeks,” he explained on Channel 24 . 

The Russians are hitting squares, bus stops, and markets. And these attacks are accompanied by a large number of casualties, the expert noted.

“The motive was not clear. Whether to pin this on the Ukrainians or prove something at the UN – no one listens to them anymore. Now it’s clear why. They created an information cushion for Putin’s election task – to move the front line away from Donetsk, because “the terrible Ukrainians are shelling peaceful population.” He will carry on with this program for another couple of months, and then he will try to report that it has been completed. A puzzle has emerged: they are shelling Donetsk, they themselves are creating a problem. So the task is to take Avdeevka for the re-election of Putin to Putin – in the near future the maximum number of forces and Russian funds will be thrown exactly there,” Svitan stated. 

Shelling of Donetsk

On January 21, in temporarily occupied Donetsk, a market in the Tekstilshchik microdistrict in the Kirovsky district of the city came under fire. The occupation authorities said that more than 20 people were killed and traditionally blamed Ukraine for the strike. 

The Ukrainian Armed Forces responded to Russia’s accusations of shelling Donetsk. They emphasized that they were not involved in the attack, and the aggressor country would have to answer for the lives of Ukrainians taken away.

“The Russians are disseminating information about the attack on the market in Donetsk. We responsibly declare that the forces subordinate to the Tavria OSV in this case did not conduct combat work with destructive weapons. Donetsk is Ukraine!” – the message said.

(C)UNIAN 2024