International monitors with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have witnessed about 8,000 violations of the ceasefire in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbas during the last week. According to OSCE’s Monitoring Mission Deputy Chief Alexander Hug, this is 40 percent more than the week before, Hromadske reported on Nov.4.
Monitors registered the most intensive shelling in the region between Donetsk airport, and in the towns of Yasynuvata and Avdiyivka in Donetsk Oblast. Many of the ceasefire violations occurred also in the western part of Luhansk Oblast – in the region between towns of Popasna, Pervomaisk, and Zolote.
The escalation of Russia’s war against Ukraine follows the recent Berlin summit, during which French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the future of the protracted peace process.
The leaders told reporters they agreed to come up with a “roadmap” for peace by the end of November.
Hug noted that the withdrawal of the armed forces is vital for the civilians who live in the region.
He said that the monitoring mission has seen fresh craters on the ground, caused by the explosions of grenades, near the partly destroyed Stanytsia Luhanska bridge across the Siversky Donets River in Luhansk Oblast. About 2,000 civilians wait in lines each day to cross the bridge, Hug said.
“The withdrawal is crucial for these people,” he said.
One of the checkpoints between the government-controlled territories and the territories, occupied by Kremlin-led separatists is in Stanytsia Luhanska.
According to the latest report of Ukraine’s military authorities, published early on Nov. 5, Kremlin-backed militants attacked Ukrainian positions using grenade launchers, mortars, and large-caliber machine guns.
At least five Ukrainian soldiers were wounded during the last 24 hours.
The death toll from Russia’s war in Ukraine has already reached 9,640 people, more than 2,000 of whom were civilians, and 22,431 people were wounded, according to the United Nations estimation. More than 1.7 million people have been forced out of their home by the continuous fighting in the east of the country.
According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, there are at least 35,000 Russian-backed fighters and some 6,000 regular Russian troops present in eastern Ukraine.
