Gorlovka Update from June 30, 2015

My former hometown of Gorlovka, where more than 300 thousand people once lived, has been shelled consistently by the Ukrainian military stationed just to the north and west of the city. Western politicians and mainstream media ignore the brutality of this war, engaging instead in shameless political posturing and cold-war-style rhetoric.
 
Gorlovka's Self-Defence site is an information sink for people living in the city. It also publishes real-time reports, informing residents of the city about the current hit zones and threat levels in their areas. The threat levels come from the colors of a streetlight: RED (Danger), YELLOW (Alert), and GREEN (Safe). Below is the timeline from last night's translated report. A lot of names for different areas of the city will sound foreign to an English speaker, but you should get the idea about what people there have been going through pretty much daily. 

15:50 Coming out of Novgorodkskoye [Ukrainian-controlled], too far. I can't tell where it's going.

Watch out, Glubokaya, it's going your way.

15:58 North-west is raising noise, they must be warming up.

16:00 Another incoming one for Glubokaya (the hit has been confirmed, it fell in the fields, no casualties, the man's at home already, just finished his report, a few scratches)

16:30 More outgoing from Novgorodskoye [Ukrainian-controlled]

20:00 Anti-aircraft guns are active around Glubokaya, pretty loud, don't panic yet. Grenade launchers too - can't do without them.

20:04 Yuzhnaya mine [Ukrainian-controlled] is getting active; so far it's just the gunfire.

20.15 It's suggested you fill up with water, charge your phones, and get your most important belongings ready. To be serious, the West is getting more and more active; as usual: they start with only gunfire, now it's more...

20:26 They're now working on Glubokaya outskirts from Yuzhnaya mine [Ukrainian-controlled]. No hits into the residential area so far. The Ukrops [Ukrainians] are also active from the direction of Novgorodskoye.

20:38 North-west (Mine 6/7), be careful, the tracer hits are getting closer

20:40 Gagarina [rebel-controlled]/Shumy [Ukrainian-controlled] - very heavy gunfire. Kurganka, be extremely careful.

20:42 The area around the Glubokaya slugheap is getting shelled very hard - 82mm mortars. Glubokaya, be extremely careful.

20:43 Kurganka, I'm probably going to give you code RED. The shells are coming pretty close.

20:49 North is very loud. Nikitovka district, get off the streets. Code YELLOW so far.

20:55 North got hit, just confirmed! Attention, North, code RED!

21:00 Heavy gunfire along the demarcation line: Shirokaya Balka - Glubokaya - Gagarina - Shumy.  Mostly non-residential areas of the city (its outskirts) are currently being shelled. I'm also giving code RED from City Block 245 to Kurganka for now. Anti-aircraft gunfire is being used against UAVs. Wow, our guys, under shelling, manage to fire at the drones.

21:17 District 19/20, RED, three hits of the residential area!!!

21:11 Mine 5, incoming fire. Rtutny, incoming fire.

21:25 South-West, don't panic - too far.

21:45 It's gotten quiet practically everywhere.

21:57 Kurganka district is being shelled. From the direction of Shumy [Ukrainian-controlled], tank plus gunfire.