Ukrainian Forces Shell Donetsk Region Settlements in Violation of Ceasefire

Sputnik News

07:21 21.01.2016

Ukrainian forces have shelled several settlements in the southeastern Donetsk region, despite the ceasefire agreed upon in Minsk, the Donetsk News Agency reports.

DONETSK (Sputnik) – There is no immediate information on damages or casualties, according to the source.

'At about 23:00 [20:00 GMT] Ukrainian servicemen started shelling the Trudovskiye settlement and the Alexandrovka settlement,' a source in the security services of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) told the Donetsk News Agency on Wednesday.

Kiev launched a special military operation in Ukraine's southeastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of a coup.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), established in Ukraine's southeast after the May 2014 independence referendums, have been calling for more autonomy from Kiev.

In February 2015, a peace agreement was signed between the two sides in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The agreement has several provisions, including a full ceasefire, a weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, and an all-for-all prisoner exchange.

Despite the Minsk peace deal, sporadic shelling continues in Ukraine's southeast.

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