Fatal Ukraine Shelling Hits Schoolyard [Video]

A shelling in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk killed at least 10 people when shells hit a playground at a school. According to Reuters, the shells landed on the playground on the first day of school. No school children were killed when the shells hit the area around school. Reports indicate that the victims included a father of one of the school children and a biology teacher, people who were in the minivan that is shown burnt, and others in the surrounding area.

The shelling in the schoolyard occurred in the morning, but the 50 to 60 students had already entered the school, according to the Daily Mail. The article added that “rebels put the number of dead at 12,” and that the bodies of two victims had been removed from the scene. Each side blames the other for the violence at the school.

“It was a nightmare. There was glass flying everywhere. The children got frightened and began to cry,” a teacher who leads a Russian class at the Ukraine school said.

The Daily Mail stated that blood was pooled up inside the school and broken glass was shattered around the school.

The city of Donetsk is a “stronghold of pro-Russian rebels,” according to Reuters. The rebels are seeking more independence from the central government.

In the video, a nearby school is captured by the media celebrating their own first day of school.

“Thank God we had this first of October, this holiday. It’s a huge joy for children; they were looking forward to this day. Concerning everything that is happening now — we are used to the shelling. We believe it will be over soon and our children will study,” one mother tells a reporter in Russian.

“We can hear it but what can we do about it? It’s life. We need to live on. So we are going on living and surviving,” another mother states about the artillery sounds, also speaking Russian.

“Donetsk city may have a slim Russian plurality (48.15 percent vs. 46.65 percent Ukrainians), but the oblast it is at the center of a significant Ukrainian majority (56.9 percent Ukrainians to 38.2 percent Russians),” a Washington Post writer explained, expressing why it is is less likely that Donetsk will actually turn out to be a “Crimea 2.0.”

A cease-fire was declared a month ago between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk, where ten people were killed in that schoolyard shelling. Yet daily violence is still experienced in residential areas, with both sides citing violations of the cease-fire agreement, according to Newser.

[Photo via Reuters’ video clip]