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Situation in Donbass calms down after flare-up on Tuesday — Ukrainian defense minister

On Tuesday morning, the conflicting sides in Donbass declared that the situation on the contact line had deteriorated, trading blame over ceasefire violations

© AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, file

KIEV, February 19. /TASS/. A flare-up in Donbass has not forced Ukraine's Armed Forces to redeploy their positions in the conflict zone, as the situation there is now calm and controllable, Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrei Zagorodnyuk told reporters on Wednesday.

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OSCE's SMM records marked spike in number of ceasefire violations in Donbass

"According to our information, they [Ukrainian troops - TASS] have temporarily abandoned a checkpoint [in the hotspot in Donbass - TASS], but in general, our positions have remained unchanged," the minister assured the journalists.

Zagorodnyuk added that in the hotspot "the situation is absolutely controllable" and "there are no reasons for panic."

On Tuesday morning, the conflicting sides in Donbass declared that the situation on the contact line had deteriorated, trading blame over ceasefire violations

According to the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, a Ukrainian subversive group was blown up by a land mine when attempting to approach militia positions near Golubovskoye. Later, the Kiev forces carried out a massive artillery strike on the LPR’s settlements with the goal of evacuating the servicemen, who were killed and wounded. In its turn, Kiev claimed that the LPR forces attacked Ukrainian troops’ positions near Novotoshkovkoye, Orekhovo, Krymskoye and Khutor Volny.

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