MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Armed Forces opened mortar fire at the village of Spartak in the area of Donetsk Airport, which resulted in a residential building catching fire, local residents told the Donetsk News Agency on Wednesday.
"We have come under intense shelling, a house is on fire at 50 Solnechnaya Street. Two elderly people live there," a resident said.
He said firefighting services cannot approach the place due to incessant shelling. The house’s owners are trying to extinguish the flames on their own.
In line with an agreement reached in Minsk at a meeting of the Contact Group on settling the situation in east Ukraine, a complete ceasefire was established from September 1 at the disengagement line in Donbas. Still, separate instances of fire are registered from time to time. Over the past month, the number of instances of shelling of the northern and western suburbs of Donetsk has sharply grown.
Ukrainian troops have been engaged in fighting with local militias during Kiev’s punitive operation, underway since mid-April 2014, against the breakaway territories - the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics constituting parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
Massive shelling of residential neighborhoods, including with the use of aviation, has killed thousands and led to a humanitarian disaster in the area.
In line with the Package of Measures on implementation of the Minsk Agreements of February 12, artillery systems with calibers of 100 millimeters and more should be withdrawn from each other by 50 kilometers, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) by 70 km, Tornado, Uragan, Smerch MLRS and Tochka missiles by 140 km.
In line with the September supplement to the Package of Measures, guns with calibers up to 100 mm, tanks, mortars, including with 120-mm caliber, were to be pulled back by November 12.
The Package (Minsk-2) was signed on February 12, 2015 in the Belarusian capital Minsk by participants of the Contact Group on settlement in Donbas.
The Package, earlier agreed with the leaders of the Normandy Four (Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine) envisioned an overwhelming cessation of fire and withdrawal of heavy armaments to create a security area in the region at least 50 kilometers wide.