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Media: DPR head comes under artillery shelling near Avdeyevka, no one hurt

According to Zakharchenko’s spokesman, Ukrainian troops fired 18 mines from 122mm howitzers and 120mm mortars

Alexander Zakharchenko Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

Alexander Zakharchenko

© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

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DONETSK, July 15. /TASS/. Head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko came under artillery shelling by Ukrainian troops during an inspection trip near the settlement of Avdeyevka, Zakharchenko’s spokesman said on Friday.

"The incident took place at 15:00 local time when Alexander Zakharchenko was inspecting the DPR positions near Avdeyevka to see, as he put it, who the Minsk agreements are implemented," the Donetsk News Agency quoted him as saying. "The head of the republic, his bodyguards and DPR servicemen came under shelling. No one was hurt."

According to the spokesman, Ukrainian troops fired 18 mines from 122mm howitzers and 120mm mortars.

The Package of Measures to fulfil the September 2014 Minsk agreements, known as Minsk-2, that was signed in Minsk on February 12, 2015 after marathon talks of the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) leaders envisaged a ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk starting from February 15, 2015 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.

On April 29, the Contact Group for a settlement in eastern Ukraine agreed the full ceasefire in Donbass starting from the midnight of April 30. It is an eighth ceasefire agreement since the autumn of 2014. The sides however continue to accuse each other of ceasefire violation.

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