International monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has sent a drone to fly over the site in eastern Ukraine
International monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has sent a drone to fly over the site in eastern Ukraine where a bus was hit during shelling earlier this week, killing at least a dozen civilians.
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The security watchdog has pledged to investigate the strike which happened on Tuesday at a Ukrainian checkpoint at Volnovakha in Donetsk region.
A news release from the OSCE said an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) gathered imagery and video data of shell impact craters at the site.
Kyiv has blamed Russian-backed rebels, who deny the accusations. The bus tragedy has heightened tensions with Moscow. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West and the Ukrainian government not to jump to conclusions. Claiming that Ukrainian forces have been stepping up shelling in the region, he called for a thorough and objective investigation from the OSCE.
In the Ukrainian capital there were mixed opinions. One woman said she believed the conflict could escalate after the bus killings: “I’m sure that it will happen if the ‘strong minds’ that govern us don’t rise up and say: ‘guys we need to stop this war where brother kills brother’.”
A man interviewed at the same spot in Kyiv was more optimistic: “I think that people are reasonable enough to resolve these issues peacefully through negotiations. In any case, you have to take a peaceful path,” he said.
The events surrounding the bus blast were caught on film. As vehicles drove through the snow-covered landscape a number of explosions littered the nearby fields.