62 civilians killed in Donbas this year - OSCE

Sixty-two civilians have been killed in hostilities in eastern Ukraine this year, according to a report published by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine.

"Three civilians were killed and ten injured from July 24 to August 8, bringing the total number of civilian casualties confirmed by the SMM in 2017 to 345, including 62 fatalities," reads the report.

SMM observers also noted that the recorded use of weapons that should have been withdrawn under the Minsk agreements had increased almost four-fold between July 31 and August 6 (547 instances) compared to the week before (137 instances).

SMM monitors regularly reported on damage to civilian houses due to shelling. 

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