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MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. Kiev forces have violated the ceasefire regime in Donbass 51 times over the last 24 hours, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) defense ministry said on Friday.
"The intensity of shellings has grown, the Ukrainian side has violated the ceasefire regime 51 times over the last 24 hours. Punitive battalions have started using heavy weaponry again," the Donetsk News Agency quoted the DPR defense ministry as saying.
The Ukrainian forces shelled the settlements of Shirokino, Zhabunki, Spartak, Yelenovka, along with the Volvo center, Donetsk airport and the Oktyabrskaya mine.
Kiev’s military operation headquarters said the militia forces violated the ceasefire regime 41 times over the last 24 hours.
Minsk agreements on Ukraine
On February 12, negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" were held in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The talks lasted for around 14 hours. Simultaneously, a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukrainian settlement was held in Minsk.
As a result, the Minsk agreements were signed that envisage ceasefire in Ukraine’s south-east, heavy weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local elections in Donbas and constitutional reform in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian forces and the self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire regime in Donbas.