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Developments in eastern Ukraine

First week of ‘silence regime’ in eastern Ukraine proves it works — DPR Defense Ministry

“The truce holds, there has been no use of heavy weaponry,” the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said

Local residents in the city of Alchevsk, Luhansk region Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

Local residents in the city of Alchevsk, Luhansk region

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

DONETSK, December 16. /TASS/. Both parties to the conflict in eastern Ukraine stick to the “silence regime” declared a week ago and this has been confirmed by lowered tensions and no new reports of casualties, the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Tuesday.

“The truce holds, there has been no use of heavy weaponry,” the ministry said in a statement quoted by the Donetsk news agency.

The ministry said however some clashes with the use of small arms were reported near the Donetsk airport, the scene of fierce fighting between Ukrainian government forces and militias for months.

Calm has returned to the streets of Donetsk and no clashes were reported overnight, the press service of the city mayor’s office said. “The process of restoring social facilities is continuing. These are mainly health care, educational and also fuel and energy complex facilities,” the statement says.

Infrastructure is being restored in other areas of the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic. “Many villages here have been cut off power as a result of artillery shelling by Ukraine’s armed forces,” it reads.

Over the past few days, no firing has been reported in area, allowing authorities to restore the destroyed utilities and “soon the citizens of these villages will have light in their houses,” Igor Bilodid, the first deputy head of the Donbas restoration management center, said on Friday, commenting on Russia’s humanitarian cargo, which includes electric transformers, wires and other electrical equipment.

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