(VOVworld) - The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced as a "grave provocation" a mortar attack hitting a public transport stop in Donetsk on Thursday in which civilians were killed, according to Reuters News Agency. The ministry said they regard the incident as a crime against humanity, a blunt provocation aimed at undermining efforts to seek a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis.

The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced as a "grave provocation" a mortar attack hitting a public transport stop in Donetsk (photo:dailymail)

The shelling of a tram stop in Kuprin Street in Donetsk on Thursday morning was reported to have killed 13 and injured 20. Ukraine's Defense Ministry blamed separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine for the attack. Meanwhile, locals said Ukraine’s armed forces fired mortars at an automobile manufacturing plant in the Leninsky district of Donetsk.