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Ukrainian army shell DPR 23 times in 24 hours, republic says

Ukrainian forces targeted the northern outskirts of Donetsk, the suburbs of Gorlovka, Yasinovataya and a number of villages in the southern part of the republic

DONETSK, December 22. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) have violated the ceasefire agreement, shelling the regions of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) adjacent to the contact line 23 times over the past 24 hours, head of the DPR group in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire (JCCC) Ruslan Yakubov said on Saturday.

"The total number of violations made by the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the past day is 23," the Donetsk News Agency quoted Yakubov as saying. "The total number of used ammunitions is 50," he added.

According to Yakubov, Ukrainian forces targeted the northern outskirts of Donetsk, the suburbs of Gorlovka, Yasinovataya and a number of villages in the southern part of the republic. The troops used mortar launchers, grenade launchers, and small arms.

The sides have agreed to a ceasefire more than 20 times since the beginning of the Donbass conflict in April 2014, though none of the ceasefires was stable. Representatives of the self-proclaimed republics suggested earlier this week that a new ceasefire be declared starting December 22, for upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays. However, Kiev’s representatives rejected it. In that situation, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, suggested that the sides hold a video conference of the subgroup on December 27 to coordinate the ceasefire.

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