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Kiev forces shell self-defense forces near Donetsk — DPR defense ministry

Ukrainian forces opened fire from small arms and mortars at the Volvo Center, the shelling continued for 1.5-2 hours, the local defense ministry reports

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have shelled the positions of the self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) near the Volvo Center, DPR defense ministry said on Wednesday.

"Around 10pm, [Ukrainian forces] opened fire from small arms and mortars at the Volvo Center, the shelling continued for 1.5-2 hours. This is another attempt to disrupt weaponry withdrawal in DPR," Donetsk News Agency quoted DPR defense ministry as saying.

On Tuesday, October 20, Ukrainian forces staged a provocation attempt near the Volvo Center on the north-western outskirts of Donetsk, the defense ministry reminded. "As a result of the Ukrainian provocation, one militiaman was killed and another was seriously injured. The enemy lost up to five people," the ministry added.

According to DPR defense ministry, OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) mission also registered the violation of ceasefire regime by Ukrainian forces.

At the meeting of the Contact Group in Minsk on August 26, the participants confirmed their plans to ensure ceasefire in Donbas from September 1. Over the last weeks, only few violations of ceasefire regime were registered in Donbass, with the most serious case registered overnight to September 5, when one civilian was killed and two others injured.

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 Minsk accords envisage ceasefire, weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local election 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.