Tram stop in Donetsk comes under fire

Tram stop in Donetsk comes under fire

DONETSK -- A number of people died on Thursday morning in Donetsk when a tram stop was shelled, while dozens more were injured.

The Russian media initially reported that the number of victims was 13, revising it to 9 later in the day.

TASS said that at least 13 people died and 20 more were injured, and that "the immediate cause of the lethal explosion or the type of the explosive device has not been identified yet."

However, it is suspected that the mortar attack was "mounted from a minivan."

The authorities of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk said that while groups of saboteurs are detained in Donetsk from time to time, it was "too early to say who is to blame for the crime" on Thursday.

On January 13, twelve people died and 13 more were injured as a bus was shelled in the eastern Donetsk region, near a Ukrainian military checkpoint near the town of Volnovakha. The Donetsk authorities said that attack "may have been staged by Kiev."

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry accused the separatists, referring to them as "terrorists."

The latest bloodshed in eastern Ukraine is taking place as foreign ministers of the so-called Normandy Quartet reached an agreement on the demarcation line and pullback of heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine, TASS reported.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the announcement on Thursday after a meeting of foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany in the German capital.

"Finally there was an agreement reached today that the demarcation line, mentioned in the Minsk protocol, will be the line from which the withdrawal of heavy weaponry should start now," Steinmeier said.

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