The shelling of a passenger bus at an Ukrainian roadblock near Volnovakha, Donetsk region, by militants which killed ten people, was a provocation, representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and head of the main command center of the Ukrainian army Bohdan Bondar has said.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday during an evening plenary sitting, he said that the attack was launched from the center of the town of Dokuchayevsk. According to Bondar, they had already established that reporters of local and Russian TV channels were staying in Dokuchayevsk to film how the Ukrainian military will open fire in return to this provocation.

"The strike was carried out by BM-21 (Grad) multiple rocket launchers on the bus carrying civilians. The terrorists have carried out the strike from the center of Dokuchayevsk, killing ten civilians and wounding around 13. When this happened, there were reporters of local and Russian TV channels in Dokuchayevsk… who came there to film how our troops will open a return fire at the center of the city," he said.

"But given that it was a provocation, we are currently taking other steps to stabilize the situation," Bondar said.