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Ukrainian forces fire over 700 shells at LPR in past week

At least 13 populated localities came under fire by Ukrainian forces in the past seven days

© Valentin Sprinchak/TASS

LUGANSK, October 12. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have fired 730 shells into the territory of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) over the past week, acting chief of the LPR people's militia Mikhail Filiponenko said on Friday.

"In the past week, the Ukrainian forces have violated the ceasefire 39 times. More than 730 mortars and shells were fired into the republic," he was quoted by the LuganskInformCenter news agency as saying.

Read also

Ukraine’s parliament extends Donbass special status until December 2019

According to Filiponenko, at least 13 populated localities came under shelling by the Ukrainian military. "I want to underline that each case of shelling is documented and all the materials proving the Ukrainian authorities’ war crimes against Donbass people are handed over to the LPR investigative bodies for criminal inquiries to be opened. Each criminal will be held accountable," he added.

After a regular Minsk meeting of the Contact Group seeking peace in eastern Ukraine, another ceasefire named the ‘back-to-school ceasefire’ came into force at midnight on August 29. Nevertheless, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) reported that the Ukrainian military breached the agreement by shelling the outskirts of Gorlovka three hours after the ceasefire had become effective. Since the outbreak of hostilities in Donbass, the sides have reached more than 20 ceasefire agreements. The most successful of them was in 2016 when a lull lasted for six weeks.

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