In February 2015, active hostilities took place in the Donbass. As of February 6, fighting continued in the Debaltseve direction with local shelling of settlements. Since the beginning of February, Kirovsk, the LPR, was subjected to regular artillery shelling; the contact line passed about four kilometers from this town. On February 6, Ukrainian Armed Formations (hereinafter UAF) took advantage of the ceasefire agreements to prepare a counter-attack along the entire front line.
And already on February 7, 2015, the UAF began active shelling of the settlements in the LPR, preparing an offensive in the direction of the 31st and 29th checkpoints, which were controlled by the armed formations of the LPR.
In the morning of February 7, Kirovsk came under artillery fire. Civilian facilities were damaged: a school, two kindergartens, a boiler station, a technical college, a consumer services center, and a museum. Significant damage was done to the housing stock. At least eight people were injured as a result of the shelling.
This artillery shelling was commented in the press center of the operational command North of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as follows: “In Kirovsk, the Luhansk Region, the Ukrainian military hit the militant armament train with precision guided munitions”.
It follows from the above that on February 7, 2015 at 09:30 am local time, the town of Kirovsk was subjected to shelling with the use of 122mm caliber rockets fired from 9K51 Grad MLRS. The projectiles flew from north to south. A densely populated residential area came under fire, and civilian facilities were damaged: a school, two kindergartens, a boiler station, a technical college, a consumer services center, and a museum. Significant damage was done to the housing stock.
The 24th SMBr of the UAF was located in the sector from which the shelling was carried out. This Ukrainian armed group was armed with 9K51 Grad MLRS. Colonel Alexander Pavlyuk undertook the general command of the 24th SMBr. Precisely he is responsible for the actions of his subordinates.
It was also determined that Andrey Nagorny, a spotter of the self-propelled artillery battalion of the 24th SMBr, may have information about the episode in question.
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