Ukrainian businessman and a shareholder in Donbass Fuel-Energy Company (DTEK) Rinat Akhmetov has offered his condolences over the death of DTEK coal miners in the Luhansk region as a result of hostilities, and renewed his calls for peace and negotiations.
“We need to sit down and negotiate, need to reach a compromise, meet each other halfway. Otherwise, more people will die, with mothers losing their children, and children losing their fathers. How many more tragedies should it take for this call to be heard?” Akhmetov said in a statement obtained by Interfax on Friday.
“I will not tire of repeating: the people of Donbas need peace. Ukraine needs peace. And all parties to the conflict must realize and accept it. We have one weapon: the negotiating table,” Akhmetov said.
He expressed “sincere deep condolences” to the relatives and loved ones of those killed and wished a swift recovery to the injured. “We never desert anyone in trouble,” the businessman added.
It was reported that four mine workers were killed and another 16 injured after an artillery shell hit a bus carrying DTEK employees on Thursday. “Four were killed and 16 injured, two are in intensive care with severe injuries,” DTEK General Director Maksym Tymchenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on July 11.
