MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces fired more than 7,000 missiles, artillery and tank shells and mortar mines at the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), DPR defense ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday.
"[Ukrainian forces] fired 2,260 shells from multiple rocket launcher systems, 2,442 shells from artillery instalments, 772 shells from tanks and 1,714 shells from mortars over the last week at peaceful towns and settlements in DPR," Donetsk News Agency quoted Basurin as saying.
DPR defense ministry reported earlier that the number of shellings by Ukrainian forces has decreased due to arrival of OSCE SMM (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission) Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug. In particular, only 23 violations of ceasefire by Kiev forces were registered. "Use of multiple rocket launcher systems and artillery has also fallen by three times. Commanders of Ukrainian Armed Forces is more cautious now that OSCE SMM Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug arrived in DPR," the defense ministry said.
The DPR defense ministry said that Kiev forces shelled from artillery and mortars Donetsk (Petrovsky, Kuybyshevsky and Kievsky districts and airport), Yasinovataya and Dokuchaevsk, as well as settlements of Spartak, Krasny Partizan, Staromikhaylovka, Yasnoye, Elenovka and Zhabichevo.
"As a result of shellings, 56 artillery shells of 152mm and 122mm caliber were fired [by Ukrainian forces], 9 tank shells, 52 mines of 82mm and 120mm caliber. They also used grenade launchers and small arms," the defense ministry spokesman said.
Seventeen people were killed in shellings by Ukrainian forces over last week, and 45 more were injured, Basurin noted. "The total number of victims in bloody shellings over the last week is as follows - 17 civilians were killed, 45 people were injured," Donetsk News Agency quoted Basurin as saying.
Last week, DPR office of human rights ombudsperson said that almost 1,300 people have been killed in shellings by Ukraine forces in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) since the beginning of 2015.
Minsk agreements on Ukraine
Ceasefire is envisaged by the Minsk agreements on the settlements of the situation in 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 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.