Donetsk, Aug 29 – DAN. A ceasefire came into effect in Donbass after the Contact Group members reiterated on August 22 their full commitment to a permanent ceasefire on the occasion of the beginning of the school year.
"On the occasion of the beginning of the school year a new ceasefire came into force at 00:01 a.m. today. We control and closely monitor the situation. Currently, shelling from the Ukrainian army side stopped. The ceasefire is being observed on the contact line," the DPR Operations Command confirmed to DAN.
The JCCC officers and DPR Army units are carrying out enhanced monitoring of the security situation along the line of contact.
Recently the situation has been unstable. On the previous day, Kiev forces hit a truck in Dokuchayevsk with an anti-tank missile killing a man. Overall, the Ukrainian army expended a ton and a half of ammunition to shell the DPP over the past week. Multiple damage to housing was reported.
This ceasefire is not the first one to be introduced in Donbass since 2014. According to DAN estimation, the School Ceasefire 2018 has become the 21st apart from several local recommitments to the silence regime and numeral agreements on ceasefire to facilitate repairs of strategic infrastructure. Neither of the ceasefires announced has yet resulted in a stable and durable silence regime along the contact line.
In this regard, the DPR delegation to Minsk head Denis Pushilin said, on August 22 during the Contact Group meeting, that he hoped that a renewed commitment to the ceasefire contributes to stability in Donbass and allows to focus on political and economic settlement. *ot