KIEV: Seven civilians died and 17 were injured when shells exploded near a funeral procession in a suburb of the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Tuesday, city hall said.
“Several shells exploded on the territory of the village (of Sartana). Civilians participating in a funeral procession were hurt,” it said in a statement, blaming the attack on pro-Russian rebels.
Seven people died and 17 were injured, a spokesman for the Mariupol city hall told AFP.
Mariupol, a large southern city in the eastern region of Donetsk, a hub of the pro-Russian insurgency, is controlled by Kiev and has been peaceful for many weeks.
But on Monday, local authorities said Ukrainian forces outside the city were attacked with artillery from the east.
Earlier Tuesday, the military said seven soldiers had died over the last 24 hours, the heaviest daily toll since a tenuous truce was struck between Kiev and the separatists on September 5.
Territories east of Mariupol, an industrial hub on the Azov coast, were seized by pro-Russian rebels in a swift offensive last month which the government blamed on help from regular Russian forces.
7 killed by shelling near Ukraine’s Mariupol
7 killed by shelling near Ukraine’s Mariupol
French Culture Minister Dati quits to focus on run for Paris mayor
- Dati sent her resignation letter to President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday
- Macron’s office said he accepted the resignation
PARIS: French Culture Minister Rachida Dati quit her post on Wednesday to focus on her candidacy for Paris mayor in an election scheduled for March 15.
She sent her resignation letter to President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, she said in an interview with TV station BFMTV.
Macron’s office said he accepted the resignation.
“The head of state thanked her for the useful action she has carried out in service to the French people over the past two years and offered her his full support in the fight she is waging,” the office said.
Dati, who most recently oversaw the change at the helm of the Louvre Museum after a series of crises, is seen as the frontrunner in the race to helm city hall by pollster Ifop, but not until after a second round of voting set for March 22.
