A soldier displays fragments of ammunition. File photoDONETSK, Apr 26Ukrainian troops shelled Shirokaya Balka and Horlivka in the Donetsk People's Republic three times in 2.5 hours, including with 120 mm mines, according to the DPR representative office at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire (JCCC). (of the armed formations of Ukraine — ed.) in the direction: 16.03 (coincides with Moscow time) — the settlement of Novgorodskoye — the settlement of Shirokaya Balka: 3 mines with a caliber of 82 mm were fired, heavy machine guns were also used; 18.05 — the settlement of Mayorsk — the settlement of Gorlovka (village mine 6/7): small arms were used; 18.37 — the settlement of Mayorsk — the settlement of Gorlovka (the village of mine 6/7): 6 mines with a caliber of 120 millimeters were fired,» the office said in a message on the Telegram channel. 
In Ukraine, Russia is changing tactics, but not strategyThe settlement of Gorlovka has been under the control of the Donetsk People's Republic since 2014, located 50 kilometers north of Donetsk. On the territory of the city there are coal mining enterprises and the chemical concern Stirol. 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 thousand people. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» To this end, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine» bloody crimes against civilians» of Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, and on March 25 they completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
