Donetsk, Sep 14 - DAN. Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire more than 140 times over the past week, Donetsk People’s Republic Operations Command deputy commander Eduard Basurin said on Friday.
“Overall, 143 ceasefire violations by Ukrainian forces were recorded over the past week,” Basurin said. “The enemy fired 75 120mm and 82mm mortar rounds at 23 DPR settlements, and also used anti-tank guided missiles, infantry fighting vehicle cannons, grenade launchers and small arms.
Over the reporting period, a 60-year-old civilian was wounded in shelling by Ukrainian forces and seven houses in the Dolomitnoye, Kominternovo, Oktyabr and Sakhanka villages were ruined or destroyed, he added.
DPR intelligence is continuing to record the massing of Ukrainian weapons banned by the Minsk agreements in the vicinity of the Urzuf settlement in the Mariupol area.
“Under the cover of the competition for the best artillery battery, to be held on September 17-22, the Ukrainian army is deploying artillery guns 2S7, Pion,203mm from 4th Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion of 43rd Separate Artillery Brigade to the Mariupol area,” Basurin said.
Pion’s firing range is 47 kilometres. These weapons, deployed in the outskirts of Mariupol, enable the Ukrainian army to deliver a strike at Novoazovsk, he said.
A new comprehensive, lasting and indefinite ceasefire came into force in Donbass at 00:01 on August 29, 2018. It was agreed by the the Contact Group participants in Minsk ahead of the new school year and was dubbed “school ceasefire.”
The Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements signed by the Contact Group on February 12, 2015 creates a 50-kilometre security zone for 100mm or larger calibre artillery systems, a security zone of 70 km wide for MLRS and 140 km wide for MLRS “Tornado-S”, Uragan, Smerch and Tactical Missile Systems Tochka. The addendum commits the parties to withdrawing artillery pieces of calibre up to 100mm, tanks and mortars.*jk