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Ukrainian forces shell DPR positions near Volvo Center in Donetsk

According to preliminary information, Kiev forces opened fire from mortars of 82mm caliber

MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have violated ceasefire regime three times over the last 48 hours shelling the positions of self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) near the Volvo Center, Donetsk’s Kuybyshevsky district head Ivan Prikhodko told Donetsk News Agency on Thursday.

"Ukrainian forces opened fire around 11pm. The shelling stopped only after midnight," Prikhodko said. According to preliminary information, Ukrainian forces opened fire from mortars of 82mm caliber.

No one was injured in the incident.

Prikhodko said that intensified shellings at DPR positions "indicate Kiev’s desire to disrupt the ongoing weaponry withdrawal."

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 Donbas, 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.