ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 9 (RIA Novosti) - More than 160 civilians were evacuated from the Russian checkpoint due to shooting at the adjacent Ukrainian checkpoint Wednesday, the Southern Customs Administration reported.
Gunshots, explosions and machine-gun fire could be heard on Wednesday night close to the Ukrainian Uspenka checkpoint. After a lull, the shooting resumed at Uspenka itself.
"Some 160 civilians were evacuated from [the Russian checkpoint] Matveyev Kurgan to a safe distance inland," the statement said.
Among the evacuees, there were 126 people from buses heading from Donetsk to Anapa, 18 car drivers and passengers, 16 truck drivers and three employees of the supervisory bodies. Customs officers were able to return to work in the morning.
After the resumption of military operations in the southeast of Ukraine, the Russian border area has been repeatedly threatened. On Wednesday, an explosive item fell 800 meters (2624 ft.) from the border of Rostov Region. In mid-June, after the Ukrainian military shelled areas close to the border regions, Russian residents found three mines. In both cases, no injuries were reported.
