DONETSK, January 5. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) have violated the ceasefire agreement, shelling the regions of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) six times over the past 24 hours, head of the DPR group in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire (JCCC) Ruslan Yakubov said on Saturday.

"The total number of violations made by the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the past day is six," the Donetsk News Agency quoted Yakubov as saying.

The shelling targeted several regions of Gorlovka, the settlement of Krutaya Balka, Dokuchayevsk, the villages of Zhabichevo and Staromikhailovka, as well as the area around the Donetsk airport, the JCCC said.

Another ceasefire came into effect in Donbass on December 29 in the run-up to New Year holidays. It was agreed on by members on the Contact Group on the settlement in eastern Ukraine on December 27, 2018. The parties have reached truce agreements more than 20 times since the beginning of the conflict in Donbass, but ceasefire violations have persisted.