DPR Village Left Without Power, Water as Key Pumping Station Damaged in Shelling by Ukrainian Forces

The Ukrainian forces shelled the village of Vasilyevka in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), firing four 82-millimeter mortars, the DPR representative office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination on ceasefire (JCCC) said.

The Vasilyevsky pumping station, which provides water to residents on both sides of the Donbass line of contact, has been damaged as a result of shelling by Ukrainian forces, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has announced.

The village of Vasilyevka, where the pumping station is located, has been left without power and water, according to a DPR representative at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on ceasefire (JCCC).

The representative office of the DPR in the JCCC had reported that the Ukrainian security forces fired four 82-mm mortars at Vasilyevka.

"We received operational information about damage to the Vasilyevsky pumping station. As a result of the shelling, transformer No. 2 is on fire, the pumping station of the South Donbass Waterway was stopped, and the settlement of Vasilyevka was left without power. Due to the shutdown of the Vasilyevsky pumping station, the Donetsk Filtering Station was transferred to a reserve water supply," the DPR said in a statement to the JCCC.

On Friday, the leadership of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics announced the beginning of a mass evacuation of citizens to Russia's Rostov region over fears of a full-scale offensive by Ukrainian forces and constant shelling. Women, children and the elderly were first on the list to be evacuated. As of Saturday morning, over 6,600 people, including 2,500 children have been evacuated from the DPR, which plans to move about 700,000 people to safety.

About 25,000 residents of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic have already crossed the border with Russia, fleeing the escalation of violence in Donbass, a spokesperson for the LPR Emergencies Ministry said on Saturday. He added that three more convoys with a total of 10,000 refugees are currently being formed.