Ukraine at OSCE: Occupiers violated previous ceasefire more than 4,200 times

“During the previous ceasefire regime that started on July 21, 2019 and lasted till July 26, 2020, we registered 4,266 ceasefire violations by the armed formations of the Russian Federation,” Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna, said at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

The diplomat noted that weapons banned under the Minsk agreements had been used 1,310 times during that period. The enemy shelled populated areas 60 times, killing three civilians and wounding six more.

Tsymbaliuk pointed out that the current agreement on additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire, which entered into force on July 27, should also be assessed against the background of events that preceded it. Last week, the Russian aggression in Donbas claimed the lives of three Ukrainian servicepersons and six more were wounded. The Russian armed formations continued to violate the security provisions of the Minsk agreements. At the same time, the OSCE SMM recorded unwithdrawn heavy weapons in the areas not controlled by the Government of Ukraine, the arrival of Russian convoys in Donbas, and also faced obstacles to monitoring in these areas.

Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna stated that the current ceasefire was largely maintained as of July 30. The Russian armed formations have already violated it five times, while Ukrainian troops demonstrated their utmost restraint and did not fire back.

“In accordance with the additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire agreed within the TCG, we urge the Russian delegation to provide explanations on those cases of violation of the ceasefire and information on the disciplinary actions undertaken in their regard,” Tsymbaliuk said.

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