One Ukrainian Soldier Wounded; 3 Civilians Injured and 2 Killed in Last 2 Days; Boy, 9, Injured June 4 is Recovering

A civilian woman, age 48, standing in her yeard suffered a leg injury from shelling of Avdeyevka by Russia-backed forces, Unian.net reported.

Shells landed in the old part of the city on Turgeneva Street as separatists fired on civilian areas for the third day in a row.

Authorities declared a state of emergency in Avdeyevka (Avdiivka) as the front-line town has its sixth day without gas following damaging to lines from shelling by Russia-backed forces, Unian.net reported.

Pavlo Zhebrivskiy, head of the Donetsk Military Civilian Administration, said a new gas line through Ukrainian-controlled territory was being built, so as not to depend on a line through separatist-controlled land. The cost would be 59 million hryvnia ($2.3 million).

Russia-backed forces made 13 attacks today, and one Ukrainian soldier was wounded, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing the Anti-Terrorist Operation [ATO].

On the Maritime line, the town of Olginka remained under fire for another night; three homes on Privokzalnaya Street were damaged.

Ukrainian positions in Chermalyk were attacked with 120-mm mortars. Vodyanoye, Talakovka and Pavlopol were attacked with grenade-launchers and small arms. A sniper was active around Vodyanoye.

On the Donetsk line, small arms and anti-tank grenades were fired near Peski and Avdeyevka; heavy machine guns were fired near Nevelskoye.

On the Lugansk line, Novotoshkovskoye was attacked with 82-mm and 120-mm mortars; Krymskoye was attacked with 82-mm mortars.

Sergei Chub, deputy head of administration of the Petrovsky District in the self-declared “Donetsk People’s Republic” said two civilians, a mother and son were killed on Lugovskogo Street in the last day from Ukrainian shelling, the separatist news service DAN-Info reported. No details were provided.

Two other civilians were injured when their car struck a mine on the north-eastern outskirts of Gorlovka yesterday, June 12, said DAN-Info.

DAN-Info also reported that an 8-year-old boy injured in shelling by Ukrainian forces on Petrovsky District on June 4 was recovering. His mother was reported killed in the attack.

On June 6, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission reported that following up on allegations from Russian officers of the Joint Center for Coordination and Control, the team visited the Donetsk Regional Children’s Hospital and learned from staff that a 9-year-old boy had been brought in on June 4 with shrapnel wounds to his torso and abdomen from a shelling attack, and that his mother had been killed in the same attack.

Earlier, DNR fighters initially prevented the team from entering the Trudovskiye neighborhood of Petrovsky District but then let them through under armed escort after contacting their superiors.

— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

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