Donetsk, Jan 21 - DAN. The strike at the Staromikhailovka neighbourhood in western Donetsk was aimed at derailing the earlier ceasefire accords, head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Office at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) Ruslan Yakubov said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian forces fired grenade launchers and heavy mortars at the frontline Staromikhailovka settlement in western Donetsk damaging two houses.

“We regard this fact of Ukrainian armed formations aggression as deliberate provocation aimed at derailing all accords,” Yakubov said. “We demand that Ukraine investigate the Staromikhailovka neighbourhood strike and punish the culprits.”

Hostilities on the Donetsk axis mounted following the recent progress in coordinating repairs at the Maryinka gas reducing station and ahead of the scheduled Contact Group meeting, he said.

“We call upon the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to record the aftermath of the strike in its next daily report,” Yakubov said.

The package of Additional Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire came into force in Donbass on July 27, 2020. The document bans the use of all weapons, deployment of hardware, special operations, engineer works and unmanned aerial vehicles flights.*jk