DONETSK, July 11. /TASS/. The village of Krasny Partizan near Yasinovataya came under mortar shelling by Ukrainian troops, the mission of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to the Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center said on Sunday.
"The shelling attack began at 16:00 local time from the Ukraine-controlled village of Novoselovka. Four mines of the 82mm caliber were fired," the Donetsk News Agency quoted it as saying.
The mission stressed that the Ukrainian side was ignoring the DPR’s requests for a ceasefire via a coordination mechanism.
The Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine, which held a videoconference meeting on July 22, 2020 agreed additional measures to control the ceasefire along the contact line in Donbass that came in force from July 27. The agreement came a year after the so-called indefinite ceasefire was declared by the parties on July 21, 2019 following more than 20 futile attempts to stop hostilities. Under the agreement, the parties to the conflict are banned to stage offensive and reconnaissance operations, use any types of drones, open fire, including from sniper weapons, and deploy heavy weapons in populated localities and addition engineering equipment at their positions. One of the key provisions is the use of disciplinary measures for ceasefire violations.
However, the situation in Donbass has been escalating since late February 2021, despite the additional ceasefire control measures agreed by the sides on July 22, 2020. Shootouts have been reported from the contact line quite frequently, with casualties reported on both sides, including among civilians. Ukraine has blamed the Donbass republics for the escalation whereas Lugansk and Donetsk accuse Ukraine of ignoring the July 2020 agreements.