OSCE records 30% increase in number of ceasefire violations in Donbas

OSCE SMM Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said this at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"There was continued violence in eastern Ukraine last week. We did in fact observe a 30% increase in the number of ceasefire violations recorded by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission," he said.

Hug noted that approximately half of these violations had been recorded in the Yasynuvata-Avdiyivka-Donetsk Airport triangle. In particular, according to Hug, over 3,200 ceasefire violations were recorded in that area last week, "a level of violence not seen since the New Year recommitment to the ceasefire."

In addition, he noted, increased level of violence along the contact line was reflected in the increase in the recorded use of weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements. He said that last week the OSCE SMM recorded "91 instances, an almost threefold increase compared to the previous week."

"Given the use of such weapons, we naturally observe such weapons in violation of agreed withdrawal lines - 56 such weapons in all, 49 of them in areas controlled by the government," Hug said.

He also said that the OSCE SMM's unmanned aerial vehicles spotted seven surface-to-air missile systems in so-called "DPR"-controlled Makiyivka, and they were surrounded by civilian residences.

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