A serviceman displays fragments of ammunition after shelling. Archival photoDONETSK, May 21. Ukrainian troops shelled Yasinovataya, firing 5 rockets from the BM-21 Grad, the representative office of the Donetsk People's Republic in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire Regime (JCCC) reports.< p>"Fixed shelling from the VFU (armed formations of Ukraine — ed.) in the direction: 07.25 — n.p. Avdiivka — n.p. Yasinovataya: 5 missiles were fired from the BM-21 "Grad", the message of the representative office in the Telegram channel says.
Yasinovataya is located about 25 kilometers north of Donetsk, it houses the largest in the former USSR railway station. 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 bullying and genocide by the Kyiv 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 Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.