Ukraine: Donbass refugees beaten for pro-Russian ice sculpture in Dnepropetrovsk

Two refugees in Ukraine's Dnepropetrovsk region have been beaten by local youths for making an ice sculpture in support of pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass.

The sculptors, reportedly aged between 20 and 30 years old and from the occupied city of Yasinovataya, scuplted the initials of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in the ice.

The DPR is a nationalist rebel group which allegedly receives humanitarian and military aid from the Russian Federation. It has been designated a terrorist organisation by the Ukrainian government.

The youths who attacked the two sculptors also took pictures of them, which were posted on social media.

According to a report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, as of 30 November, there were 498,347 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine - an increase of around 900% in four months.

Local residents have collected their own money, food and clothing for the IDPs, and some have complained that these refugees, after escaping the turmoil in Donetsk and Lugansk, continue to advocate and glory the separatist organisations waging war there.

One local resident recently said: "Why did you leave from where you were so good, and why do we have to give you now our own bread? Go home and be happy there."