LUGANSK, February 17. /TASS/. The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass has significantly aggravated over the past 24 hours, Yan Leshchenko, head of the Lugansk People’s Republic’s (LPR) Militia said on Thursday.
"Over the past 24 hours, the situation at the line of combat engagement has significantly escalated. The adversary, following direct orders of Kiev’s military-political leadership, is undertaking attempts to aggravate the conflict. <...> We are urging international observers to record the facts of aggressive actions on the part of Kiev’s militants and undertake immediate measures to prevent bloodshed in Donbass," his emergency statement published on the LPR’s People’s Militia’s Telegram channel said.
Earlier, the representatives of the LPR at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of ceasefire (JCCC) reported that Ukraine’s armed forces violated the ceasefire four times since midnight. The areas of the Zolotoye-5, Sokolniki, Veselenkoye, and Nizhneye Lozovoye communities were shelled. Additionally, the Donetsky settlement was shelled by mortars.
Since July 27, 2020, a package of additional measures to ensure a ceasefire has been formally in effect in Donbass. The document, among other things, bans the use of weapons, the stationing of heavy armaments in populated localities, engineering works at positions, and the launching of drones except those belonging to OSCE observers.