‘DPR head of state’ says more Russian troops needed

Denis Pushilin, the head of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic”, says “all necessary allied reinforcements, mainly Russia’s, will be asked for help due to the shelling of Donetsk and other settlements,” according to Pushilin’s Telegram channel.

“Our enemy has literally crossed the line, they are using brutal warfare methods, shelling the residential areas of Donetsk,” Pushilin says.

Russia’s state-controlled media have reported numerous shellings of Donetsk today. Aleksei Kulemzin, the self-proclaimed mayor of the occupied city, said three people were killed and 13 were injured as a market square in the southeast district of the city was shelled.

Russia’s RIA Novosti and TASS reported a shell hitting a local maternity ward an hour before Pushilin called out for reinforcements. All women and personnel managed to hide in the basement, nobody was hurt.

Russia’s Investigative Committee initiated over 1100 criminal procedures against “the Kyiv regime for threatening peace and the safety of humanity.”

“Over 75,000 victims of crimes have been questioned so far, 13,000 of them uderaged,” the agency claims.