Activists shout during clashes with forces from the Kiev-1 volunteer battalion on Independence Square in Kiev on Aug. 7, 2014.EFREM LUKATSKY/The Associated Press
Sustained shelling in the main rebel stronghold in eastern Ukraine struck residential buildings and a hospital, killing at least four people and wounding 10 others, officials said, as government forces pressed forward in their campaign to rout the separatists.
Mortar fire struck the Vishnevskiy Hospital in Donetsk on Thursday morning, killing one and wounding five others, Donetsk city council spokesman Maxim Rovensky told The Associated Press. "There was a sudden explosion," witness Dr. Anna Kravtsova said. "A mortar round flew through the window."
The shelling, which destroyed an array of equipment in the dentistry unit, also hit three nearby apartment buildings.
It followed a night of shelling in another neighbourhood as the fighting between the government and pro-Russian separatists is inching ever closer to the city centre. The mayor's office said in a statement posted on its website that three people had been killed, five wounded and several residential buildings destroyed during those attacks.
The government denies it uses artillery against residential areas, but that claim has come under substantial strain in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary.
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have been fighting the Kiev government since April. Ukraine and Western countries have accused Moscow of backing the mutiny with weapons and soldiers, a claim the Russian government has repeatedly denied.
The West has also accused Russia of most likely providing the insurgents with surface-to-air missiles that may have been used to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over rebel-held territory on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.
Clashes erupted in central Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, as city authorities sought to clear away the remnants of a tent colony erected by demonstrators involved in the street uprising against pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych. At the time, protesters were angry about endemic corruption and wanted closer ties with the European Union.
In scenes reminiscent of that revolt, which climaxed with Yanukovych's ouster in February, demonstrators set alight tires in their faceoff against a volunteer battalion overseeing the cleanup operation.
Dark plumes of acrid smoke from burning rubber rose above Independence Square as workers in high-visibility vests worked fast to dismantle barricades surrounding the main stage.
The square and surrounding streets were the site of huge winter protests that led to Yanukovych's ouster. Despite the election in May of a successor – 48-year old billionaire confectionery tycoon Petro Poroshenko – many said they would continue to squat on the square to ensure the new authorities lived up to their promise to usher in an era of transparent and accountable rule.
Many Kiev residents have fumed over the months-long sit-in, however, complaining that it severely disrupts traffic and blights the city's main thoroughfare.
City authorities have been negotiating with the protesters to clear the square since a new mayor was elected, but have met strong resistance from the several hundred demonstrators still camped out there.
While many barricades were removed Thursday, numerous tents remain in place.