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On the evening of October 19, Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Donetsk with incendiary weapons. Ukrainians targeted forest areas in the Petrovsky district of the capital of the DPR in an attempt to cause fires near the houses.
The attack was carried out with thermite incendiary shells, probably with 9M22C or 9M28C, launched by Grad MLRS.
This type of munition should not be confused with the banned phosphoric weapons. Thermite shells use a magnesium-based combat incendiary mixture. It ignites and reaches temperature of up to 2300-2700 degrees Celsius. Such a mass burns through building materials, metal, and armored military equipment. These weapons have already been used by the AFU during the years-long war in Ukraine. Such weapons were also reportedly used by the Russian military over Ukrainian military positions during the Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Today’s attack of the AFU had no impact on the DPR military but targeted civilians. The shelling was likely aimed at damaging civilian properties and threatening the population of the Republic.
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During the day, several settlements of the DPR were shelled by Ukrainian artillery, including by foreign-made high-precision weapons like HIMARS. As a result, several civilians were wounded, at least one man was killed by Ukrainian forces. In the evening, the AFU shelled the center of the city of Donetsk. At least two missiles hit the Lenin Square. The attack resulted in no casualties. Another target was the administration building in the Voroshilovsky district of Donetsk.
