DPR People's Militia in Mariupol. File photoDONETSK, Mar 19Ukrainian troops shelled the settlements of Signalnoe, Gorlovka and Yelenovka in the Donetsk People's Republic in 40 minutes, including firing 12 mines with a caliber of 120 mm and six shells with a caliber of 122 mm, the DPR representative office at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire (JCCC) reports. .»Fixed fire from the VFU (armed formations of Ukraine — ed.) in the direction: 16.15 (the time coincides with Moscow time) — the settlement of Novomikhailovka — the settlement of Signalnoye: 5 shots were fired from the tank; 16.25 (the time coincides with Moscow time) — the settlement Leninskoye — the settlement of Gorlovka: 6 mines with a caliber of 120 millimeters were fired; 16.55 (the time coincides with Moscow time) — the settlement of Novomikhailovka — the settlement of Yelenovka: 6 shells with a caliber of 122 millimeters were fired, 6 mines with a caliber of 120 millimeters, «the message says in Telegram- representative channel. Gorlovka has been under the control of the DPR since 2014, the city is located 50 kilometers north e Donetsk. On the territory of the city there are coal mining enterprises and the chemical concern «Stirol». Gorlovka is one of the largest cities in the DPR. The most frequently shelled areas of Gorlovka at the moment are the village of Zaitsevo and the villages of mines named after Gagarin and «6/7» located on the outskirts of the city. Before the start of the conflict in Donbass, the population of Gorlovka numbered more than 250,000 people. 24 February. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Russian Armed Forces, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive, but there is no talk of the occupation of Ukraine.
