Donetsk, Aug 27 - DAN. The past 30 days in Donbass have become the calmest period in the region over the six years of the conflict, the Donetsk People’s Republic Office at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) said on Thursday.
“Exactly a month has passed from the day of introduction of the additional measures to strengthen the indefinite ceasefire which has been effective since July 21, 2019. The past 30 days can be described as the calmest period over the six years of the Donbass conflict. This shows positive dynamics in the efforts to ensure the safety of civilian population; nobody has been hurt in shelling by Ukrainian armed formations over the past 30 days,” the JCCC said.
Furthermore, it is the first time that the weapons banned by the Minsk Agreements have not been used for 30 consecutive days. “The overall number of ceasefire violations has decreased considerably; nineteen ceasefire violations were recorded <…> Overall, thirteen rounds of ammunition were expended. Ceasefire violators mostly used automatic grenade launchers and small arms,” it said.
Despite such positive changes, the JCCC made it clear that it was premature to say that the contact line situation had stabilised.
Violations of the additional ceasefire control measures by Ukrainian army units are recorded daily. For example, 49 attempts to change the disposition of troops by means of completing the development of old trenches and making new ones, as well as 17 cases of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles have been recorded.
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The package of tighter ceasefire control measures came into force in Donbass on July 27, 2020. A ban is imposed on the use of any armaments, including small arms by Ukraine, the DPR and the LPR, as well as on any offensives including the deployment of hardware to the frontline, mining and further development of positions.
The Contact Group agreed the additional ceasefire control measures on July 22. The purpose of the measures is to achieve stable ceasefire until complete and comprehensive settlement of the conflict. The truce has been formally in effect in the region since July 21, 2019; previously, the parties had made more than 20 attempts to stop the civil confrontation in the region which claimed nearly 5,000 lives in the DPR alone.*jk