Donetsk, Feb 12 – DAN. Ukraine systematically violates the agreements on the disengagement of forces, said DPR representative at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) Ruslan Yakubov.
"We can assert that the conditions of the Framework Agreement on Disengagement of Forces and Hardware dated September 21, 2016 are not observed by Ukraine since the disengagement has been completed in the three pilot zones," he said.
Yakubov said that following the synchronic and simultaneous elimination of violations in the Petrovskoye-Bogdanovka zone in the autumn of 2019 Ukrainian military are still present there, and the OSCE Mission confirms the presence of new trenches, equipment, and modernization of old positions by Kiev forces.
"We have recorded 197 episodes of ceasefire violation on the Ukrainian side within the disengagement area," he added.
The framework agreement on disengagement of forces in Donbass was signed in late September 2016. The objective was to disengage the warring sides to avoid the risk of clashes and shelling. The document set three pilot security areas: Petrovskoye in the DPR and Stanitsa Luganskaya and Zolotoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic. The disengagement was finalized at all the three areas by the late 2019.
The presence of weapons and military personnel is banned in those areas. The OSCE SMM patrols are monitoring the situation.
The Additional Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire were signed at the Contact Group meeting on July 22 to reinforce and control the indefinite ceasefire in effect since July 21, 2019, the latest in the series of more than 20 reconfirmation and announcements of the “silence regime”. The package came into effect on July 27. *ot