In January 2015, there were fierce battles for Donetsk airport. In especially acute moments of confrontation, residential areas of Donetsk were also subjected to shelling.
On January 15, the airport came under the control of the Donetsk People’s Republic. On January 18, representatives of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine announced a decision to start a massive operation to return the old airport terminal, occupied by the rebels, under their control. The 93rd brigade commander, Oleg Mikats, led the Ukrainian forces. On January 20, the UAF made a new attempt to storm Donetsk airport.
On the same day (January 20, 2015), Kievsky District of Donetsk was shelled. One of the shells exploded near the Kievsky DEC public transport stop in Kievsky Avenue.
Other shells also damaged buildings at a distance of up to 500 meters from the stop. The Nursery School No. 204 and the boiler facility next to the building in 10, Politboitsov St. were damaged.
As evidenced by the summary of events over the day, published by the DPR Human Rights Ombudsman, two civilians were killed in the area of this incident:
- a man at a bus stop near the Kievsky Executive Committee,
- Prud’ V.S., born in 1954, 10A, Politboytsov St., an employee of the KMS boiler facility.
In addition, the same source published information about the nine wounded:
- Cheban M.S., born in 1963, injured near the Kievsky DEC bus stop, non-penetrating wounds of the chest, taken to the Kalinin Hospital;
- Miganov V.N., born in 1969, injured near the Kievsky DEC bus stop, open trauma to the abdomen and chest, taken to the Regional Trauma Center (RTC);
- Gerasechkin I.V., born in 1963, injured near the Kievsky DEC bus stop, trauma to the abdomen, taken to the RTC;
- Shulga V.Ya., born in 1941, injured near the Kievsky DEC bus stop, shell fragmentation wound of the right and left tibiae, taken to the RTC;
- Rybinskaya L.S., born in 1943, injured near the Kievsky DEC bus stop, shell fragmentation wound of the left tibiae, taken to the RTC;
- Poznyak N.V., born in 1962, 3A, Politboytsov St., shell fragmentation wound of the abdominal cavity, taken to municipal hospital No. 1;
- Gaidchek G.K., born in 1964, 3, Politboytsov St., shell fragmentation wound of the shoulder and auricle, taken to the RTC;
- Gaidchek E.B., born in 1969, 3, Politboytsov St., head soft tissue bruise, taken to the RTC;
- Selegeneva N.S., born in 1949, 3A, Politboytsov St., shell fragmentation wound of the lower jaw, taken to the RTC.
It follows from the above that on January 20, 2015, approximately at 9:30 am, the area around of Nursery school No. 204 and the Kievsky DEC public transport stop in the Kievsky district of Donetsk came under shelling of a 2A65 Msta-B howitzer. 152mm shells flew in the direction from north-west to south-east (azimuth 330 degrees).
As a result of the analysis of news videos and information from the Internet, it was found that the units of the 1st Howitzer Battalion of the 55th Separate Artillery Brigade could be located in the sector from which the shelling was carried out. The direct command of the artillery batteries was carried out by the battery commander of the 55th SMBr with the code name “San Sanych”. The commander of the 55th SMBr, Colonel Sergey Evgenievych Brusov undertook the general command of this unit. Also, the operational command of the artillery could be carried out by the commander of the 81st brigade, Yevhen Georgiyovych Moysyuk, who commanded the defense of Donetsk airport at that time.
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