Kyiv denies Ukrainian army shelled Avdiyivka Coke and Chemical Plant

11:15, 23.05.2017 1 min read

Ukrainian representatives at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) have said that Ukraine's Armed Forces did not shell the Avdiyivka Coke and Chemical Plant in Donbas.

Reports about the attack are not true, the Ukrainian side of the JCCC said in a statement, which was posted on the Facebook account of the headquarters of Kyiv's Anti-Terrorist operation (ATO) in Donbas.

JCCC observers have not recorded any instances of shelling near the plant and, consequently, there has been no fire at the facility, Ukrainian officers at the JCCC said.

They said in their statement, citing one of the plant's senior managers, that the specifics of the technological process of starting coke ovens include an occasional powerful discharge of flame from pipes to a height of up to four meters.

"When darkness falls, the glow over the plant is visible from a long distance and can be easily mistaken for a fire," the representative of the plant's administration said.