“Shelling from the armed formations of Ukraine was recorded in the direction: 21.10 - the settlement of Katerynivka - the settlement of Gorlovka (Nikitovsky district): two shells with a caliber of 155 millimeters (cassette),” the department said in a statement on the Telegram channel.
The mayor of Gorlovka reported on Thursday that as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the village of the Izotov mine in the Nikitovsky district of the city, submunitions from NATO bell-type cluster shells, which are used in NATO artillery shells with a caliber of 155 millimeters and HIMARS missiles, were discovered.
Gorlovka is located 50 kilometers north of Donetsk, the city is home to the Stirol chemical concern and coal mining enterprises. This is one of the largest populated areas of the DPR; before the start of the conflict in the Donbass, the population of Gorlovka numbered more than 250 thousand people.
155mm artillery is used by NATO countries. The United States has supplied Ukraine with long-range M777 155-mm howitzers, and Ukrainian troops are actively using them to shell cities in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Also, German PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery mounts, Polish Krab self-propelled guns and French CAESAR self-propelled guns using shells of this caliber were supplied to the Ukrainian troops.
Cluster munitions are not equipped with self-destruct devices. According to the US military, from 5% to 14% of this type of ammunition supplied to Kyiv may not explode at all, since it has been lying in warehouses for a long time. In this case, they will constitute mines that threaten civilians even after the conflict is over.
