ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Donetsk border checkpoint resumed operations Monday after being closed as a result of shelling from Ukraine, the local customs authority said.
“At 9:00 a.m. Donetsk checkpoint personnel returned to work. The passage of individuals and vehicles through the border has resumed,” the customs authority said in a statement.
Customs officers at the Donetsk checkpoint in Rostov Region were evacuated to a safe location after shelling from Ukraine in the area of the neighboring Izvarino checkpoint.
No vehicles or people were allowed to cross the Novoshakhtinsk and Kuibyshevo checkpoints due to suspensions at border checkpoints in Ukraine.
A representative of the Russian Security Service in Rostov Region said the Donetsk checkpoint was temporarily closed Saturday evening and was unable to restart operations Sunday due to the shelling.
On Sunday, one Russian citizen was killed when a shell exploded in the yard of a house in Donetsk, a town in southern Russia’s Rostov Region. Another shell hit a house, injuring two women – an 82-year-old mother and her daughter. The elderly woman was hospitalized with a concussion and fractures.
Moscow protested the shelling, saying it is a provocation that might have irreversible consequences. Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Sunday that Russia promises “harsh demarches” against Ukrainian authorities over the incident.
Kiev claims that Ukrainian troops did not fire at Russian territory.
