ARTILLERY shells have hit the centre of Ukraine's separatist-held city of Donetsk for the first time, killing at least one person, as a large Russian aid convoy headed towards the border.
Ukrainian government forces were tightening the noose on pro-Russian separatists, shelling rocked Donetsk and sending frightened residents rushing for cover. It was not immediately clear if the artillery was fired by government or rebel forces.
Two shells landed 660ft from the Park Inn Radisson, one of the city's main hotels, shattering windows. The blasts opened up a yawning hole on the third floor of an apartment block and left a broad crater on the pavement.
The attack came as a huge Russian convoy carrying 2,000 tonnes of water, baby food and other humanitarian aid drove through southern Russia towards the frontier, while Kiev repeated it could not enter until Ukrainian authorities had cleared its cargo.
The 280 trucks left the Moscow region on Tuesday, looking to take aid to Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine, where the main city is held by the separatists.
The pro-Western Kiev government says the humanitarian crisis is partly of Moscow's making and has denounced the dispatch of aid as an act of cynicism.
It is also fearful the operation may become a covert military intervention by Moscow to prop up the rebels who appear on the verge of defeat.
In other developments, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had signed off on establishing a Russian military task force in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine, while on a visit to the Black Sea peninsula but said the presence would not be too heavy or costly.
In Kiev, the leader of Ukraine's populist Radical Party was nearly knocked out in a punch-up in parliament after he accused a fellow deputy of ignoring the plight of soldiers fighting in east Ukraine.
Oleh Lyashko staggered and appeared stunned after being punched by Oleksandr Shevchenko, whom he had called a "pot-bellied fatty".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article