Euronews sees damage first-hand in government-held city under rebel fire in Luhansk

Euronews sees damage first-hand in government-held city under rebel fire in Luhansk
By Seamus Kearney
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Euronews has visited a government-held city that has come under fire from separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine

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Euronews has witnessed the damage in a government-held city that has come under fire from separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Many people have been evacuated from Popasna, which is not far from the city of Debaltsevo, also threatened with being surrounded by separatists.

Yuri Onishenko, the Mayor of Popasna, told euronews: “We had 22,000 inhabitants; now there are just four or five thousand still living here. So those who want to have probably left and they keep on leaving every day.’

When the shelling in the area stopped, euronews was able to enter the city to see first-hand some of the damage.

One woman told reporter Sergio Cantone: “We’re tired of all the shaking. We don’t know what’s going to happen, the blast was so hard it shook my house.

“When will it stop? I fear for the children, who aren’t going to school. What’s the use?”

Another woman showed euronews her destroyed house.

“It was a grad missile,” she said. “I have no idea who fired it. We’ve already been cleaning up. That used to be a verandah with some extra buildings and over there, that was the house. That’s what’s left of it.”

Latest reports say two civilians have died and three others have been injured in the shelling in Popasna.

Reporting on the ground by euronews’ Sergio Cantone

The Kiev Times, in Russian, has a lot of photos taken in Popasna.

Danylo,9,lives in #Popasna,which's being const.shelled.parents say they don't have where else to go,via p_pieniazek</a> <a href="http://t.co/gcUAmnJAI1">pic.twitter.com/gcUAmnJAI1</a></p>&mdash; Kateryna_Kruk (Kateryna_Kruk) January 29, 2015

Russian artillery is pounding Popasna & can soon be able to surround Ukrainian forces in Debaltseve, 1 of Ukraine's most strategic positions

— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) January 24, 2015

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