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Gorlovka suburbs come under shelling from Ukrainian troops — DPR law enforcers

Also, Ukrainian troops shelled Donetsk’s north suburbs from mortars and grenade launchers

Donetsk airport (archive) Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

Donetsk airport (archive)

© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/. Four settlements southeast of Gorlovka in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) came under shelling from Ukrainian troops, a source in the DPR law enforcement agencies said on Sunday.

The source told the Donetsk News Agency that Ukrainian troops had shelled the settlements of Gagarin Mine, Zheleznaya Balka, Shirokaya Balka and Ozeryanovka from 120mm mortars, multiple launch rocket systems, grenade launchers and firearms.

Also, a source in the law enforcement agencies of the DPR said Ukrainian troops shelled Donetsk’s north suburbs from mortars and grenade launchers.

"At about 18:00, Ukrainian troops opened fire at the settlements of Trudivskiye and Spartak north of Donetsk," the Donetsk News Agency quoted him as saying. Apart from that, the village of Sakhanka in the DPR’s south also came under shelling from Ukrainian troops.

The source said fire had been opened from Ukrainian positions in Maryinka and Opytnoye. Ukrainian troops reportedly used 120mm caliber mortars, armored vehicles, grenade launchers and firearms.

The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the European security watchdog OSCE on February 12, 2015, signed a 13-point Package of Measures to fulfil the September 2014 Minsk agreements. The package was agreed with the leaders of the Normandy Four, namely Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine.

The Package of Measures, known as Minsk-2, envisaged a ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk starting from February 15 and subsequent withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of engagement. The deal also laid out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including local elections and constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions.

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 Donbass. Still, the DPR regularly registers separate instances of shelling on the part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan