Russian Foreign Ministry: 1 killed, 1 injured by Ukrainian shell near border

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s foreign ministry is claiming that a Ukrainian shell has hit a town on the Russian border, killing one person and seriously injuring two others.

A ministry statement calls the incident a “provocation,” and warns of the possibility of “irreversible consequences.”

Russia says the shell hit the courtyard of a residential building in the Russian town of Donetsk this morning. The town borders Ukraine’s restless east, where a pro-Russian separatist insurgency has waged a three-month long battle with the Kiev government.

Ukraine is denying it was responsible. A spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council quoted by the Interfax news agency blames the rebels for the attack.

Russia has made repeated claims that settlements along the border have been hit by Ukrainian fire, but no deaths have been previously reported. The West and Kiev say the area is a key supply route for the rebels.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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