Donetsk, Feb 12 - DAN. Ukrainian army units have violated the ceasefire 525 times since the beginning of the “Christmas ceasefire” on December 29, 2018, firing some 5,000 rounds of ammunition at Donetsk People’s Republic areas, head of the DPR Office at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination Ruslan Yakubov said on Tuesday.
“As many as 525 violations by Ukrainian armed formations have been recorded since the ceasefire came into effect, including 103 strikes with heavy weapons,” Yakubov said adding that 4,803 rounds of ammunition had been fired at the Republic.
During this period, 18 houses, two civil infrastructure facilities were damaged, one vehicle was destroyed and two others were damaged, he added. However, the intensity of Ukrainian strikes with heavy weapons decreased compared with the previous year.
“Fewer ceasefire violations were recorded over the same period in 2018, 366 in all, but heavy weapons were used much more to deliver strikes at residential areas which killed one person, wounded another ten and damaged ten houses,” Yakubov said.
The Christmas ceasefire brokered by the Contact Group has been formally in effect in Donbass since December 29, 2018.*jk