Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has said that the Avdiyivka coke chemical plant, one of the biggest Europe, is a strategic target for the militants who have recently intensified their shell attacks.

"The primary intent [of the militants' attacks] is to destroy one of the biggest coke chemical plants in Europe. If the plant is destroyed – and this is what Russians are longing to do – it means that [production at] the whole metallurgical complex would be stopped," he said, while opening a sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers in Kyiv on Wednesday.

The leader of government ordered that all necessary measures are taken to protect the town and the plant.