Donetsk chemical factory explosion
© Screenshot from youtube.com/user/gorlowka
A powerful explosion lit up the night sky Sunday night in Donetsk at 10:50 pm. Shock waves shook the city, blowing out windows, and the blast was felt in the neighboring cities of Gorlovka and Makeyevka. The explosion was reported in the Kuibyshev region of Donetsk at or near a chemical weapons factory that was also targeted in September and November of last year. The location of the blast appears to be within the chemical factory area, but the Saker reports the impact was 1000 meters away from the main buildings. Russian TV has shown a crater 10 meters deep. Donetsk Republic leaders have said it would have needed the equivalent power of 1 ton of TNT to create, raising the possibility that a new type of weapon is in use.

Casualties from the explosion have yet to be confirmed from Donetsk, while Ukraine's leader of the radical Right Sector, Dmitry Yarosh, claims the blast killed "200 terrorists".

The explosion could be seen tens of kilometers away and residents have been posting their footage online:





Kiev's Anti-Terrorist Operation is blaming anti-Kiev forces for the blast. Their spokesman told the media, "This was caused by a dropped cigarette butt." Ukrainian parliament member Boris Filatov stated their military forces were shelling the area with a multiple rocket system, but they "do not know what they hit because they were shooting based on coordinates."

The fire from the explosion has been reported to have been contained and there is no risk of a chemical spill in the area.

Initial reports in the alternative media were abuzz with speculations that the blast may have been a nuclear explosion. While some conjecture may have been fear-based, with others simply looking for a 'scoop', the event highlights the unchanging direction of Kiev's war policy and the madness being unleashed.

This explosion was not an isolated incident. It appears to be a part of a resumed and increased offensive on Donetsk from Kiev. The head of the People's Republic of Donetsk stated Ukrainian warplanes were attacking the neighboring town of Gorlovka earlier Sunday night and up to 30 people were killed, including children. He said four schools and an elementary were among the buildings that were hit and added:
"Towards the evening, the Ukrainian bombers performed an airstrike on Gorlovka with 500-kilogram aviation bombs. Notably, the bombardment was not targeted; it came from over the clouds and the aim was simply to hit the town,"

"For several weeks, we've been shouting and trying to prove that the Ukrainian military is using the truce to perform a massive regrouping of its forces to prepare for a large-scale offensive. But all of our appeals to the OSCE and Joint Centre for Control & Coordination (JCCC) have been ignored,"
A representative from the JCCC confirmed the attacks and said,
"Previously, all the attacks on Donetsk and its suburbs were mainly conducted by uncontrolled units of the National Guard or the so-called territorial battalions, but today it's clear that the shelling of residential areas is performed by regular units of the Ukrainian army. Also, for the first time after a long break, the Ukrainian side is using aviation."
The renewed attacks come immediately after Merkel's and Hollande's visit with Putin at the Kremlin this past Friday and Saturday to discuss the peace process in Ukraine. There are some small but significant signs that Europe is slowly waking up to the fact that the American sponsored chaos in Ukraine is not good for Europe. Ukraine clearly has no such interest in peace, while their supporters in the United States government are looking to dump more fuel on the fire.