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Kiev forces violate ceasefire regime 8 times over last 24 hours — LPR people's militia

According to LPR, the Ukrainian forces fired from tanks, mortars of 120mm and 82mm caliber, automatic grenade launchers and small arms

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. The Ukrainian forces have violated ceasefire regime in Donbas eight times over the last 24 hours, the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) people’s militia said on Monday.

"The ceasefire regime is not observed by the Ukrainian forces, eight violations have been registered over the last 24 hours," the LPR people’s militia told Luhansk Inform Center. The Kiev forces shelled the settlements of Oboznoye and Veselaya Gora and people’s militia checkpoint over the Seversky Donets River near the Stanitsa Luhanskaya settlement.

"The settlements of Oboznoye and Veselaya Gora were shelled for two hours, from 1pm to 3pm [local time], from a mortar of 82mm caliber. Representative of SMM OSCE [Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] came under fire, they hid from shellings in a drainpipe," the people’s militia said.

According to LPR, the Ukrainian forces fired from tanks, mortars of 120mm and 82mm caliber, automatic grenade launchers and small arms. "No one was injured, neither civilians nor people’s militiamen," an LPR spokesperson said.

Minsk agreements on Ukraine

Ceasefire is envisaged by the Minsk agreements on Ukraine. The Minsk accords were signed on February 12, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" 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.

The Minsk accords also envisage weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local elections in Donbas, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.

The Ukrainian forces and the self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating ceasefire and other points of the Minsk agreements.

Weaponry withdrawal

On July 18, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics (DPR and LPR) announced their plans to unilaterally withdraw heavy weaponry from the contact line.

DPR announced last week that it completed the withdrawal of weaponry of less than 100mm caliber from the contact line, leaving tanks only in "hot spots" to the north of Donetsk and in Debaltseve. LPR also completed the withdrawal of weaponry from the contact line, leaving tanks and armored vehicles only on positions near the Schastye settlement.

On July 21, the Contact Group on Ukrainian settlement reached an agreement on gradual withdrawal of weaponry of less than 100mm caliber by both sides.