Last week in Donbas in many ways worst this year - OSCE

"Last week was in many ways the worst we have seen so far this year. In total, we recorded almost 7,700 ceasefire violations. On some days, the level of violence was similar of a phase of the conflict we had thought had been left in the past," Hug said at a briefing in Kyiv on Monday.

In particular, according to him, on the night of May 16 and early on May 17, in Svitlodarsk, the SMM heard almost 500 explosions and about 860 shots and bursts of heavy machinegun and small arms fire.

Of particular concern was the situation in Horlivka, where for a long time a relative calm had prevailed, he said. 

"On Thursday night-early Friday morning, that calm had nowhere to be seen. Our monitoring officers at the SMM for a patrol base in Horlivka heard about 140 explosions, mostly artillery and tank fire, plus shots and bursts of anti-aircraft gun, heavy machinegun and small arms fire," Hug said.

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