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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Donetsk Republic PM: Kiev has not stopped fire in eastern Ukraine

“Today was an ordinary war day", Alexander Borodai said

DONETSK, June 25, 0:29 /ITAR-TASS/. Kiev has not stopped shellings in Ukraine’s embattled East despite a truce announced until June 27, self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) Prime Minister Alexander Borodai said on Tuesday.

“Today was an ordinary war day. [The city of Slavyansk] and a district of the town of Snezhnoye were shelled by artillery,” Borodai said. “Fighting in Donetsk suburbs near the airport with the use of armored vehicles and artillery started recently; mortar fire is being delivered.”

The DPR premier said Kiev’s ceasefire announcement was “nonsense”.

“We talked with the contact group and agreed on a ceasefire. But this turned out to be nonsense. Kiev did not want to stop the war. Our people were killed and injured, the enemy also sustained losses. I officially announce that there was no ceasefire. Judging by all appearances, there will be none,” he said.

“Official Kiev tried to deceive us sending a certain contact group to us that in essence does not influence anything and does not have any powers. We have nothing else to do but keep fighting,” Borodai said.

Kiev’s punitive operation against federalization supporters in Ukraine’s Southeast involving armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation has killed hundreds of people, including civilians, left buildings destroyed and damaged and forced tens of thousands to cross the border from Ukraine to Russia.

Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko, who won the May 25 early presidential election in Ukraine and took office on June 7, announced a ceasefire in Ukraine’s embattled Southeast from June 20 until June 27. He also presented a peace plan to settle the situation in the Southeast during his first working trip to the Donetsk Region.

Despite periodical reports that the ceasefire has been violated by Kiev, Borodai said Monday, June 23, after talks on implementation of Poroshenko’s peace plan, that militias in Ukraine’s embattled Southeast agreed to the ceasefire until June 27.

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Eastern Ukraine

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