The situation the zone of armed conflict in East Ukraine deteriorated sharply over the last week, the number of ceasefire violations increased by 40 percent and amounted to 8,264 cases. Most of them – 87 percent – were recorded in the Donetsk sector. Five-fold increase in ceasefire violations was recorded in Luhansk region: from 225 to 1,084. The hottest spots are Zolote and Pervomaysk. This was stated by Alexander Hug, First Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, at a briefing held at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “We recorded 732 violations, including 81 artillery shelling and eight mortars shelling around Zolote and Pervomaysk,” noted Mr. Hug. Also, the OSCE monitors recorded 4 cases of ceasefire violation near Stanytsia Luhanska. Alexander Hug stated that the attacks had come from both sides.
According to him, two people were killed by firing 122-mm guns in Makiyivka, a city controlled by the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”). Another seven people were wounded. “According to our estimates, the shelling came from the areas where parties were to have withdrawn weapons,” he stressed. At the same time, a house in government-controlled Popasna burned down because of shelling. “Shelling of civilians did not stop even when they were given humanitarian aid,” noted Mr. Hug.
“Each side can continue to blame each other of what occurred in Makiyivka and Popasna. But this will lead to even more victims. Or they can immediately begin to fulfill the obligations that they had undertaken in Minsk,” believes Alexander Hug.
For more information, see the previous press release of the OSCE SMM here (as of October 23, 2016) or go to the OSCE SMM website for detailed daily and weekly updates.
