MOSCOW, September 26. /ITAR-TASS/. The truce in Ukraine is being observed and the intensity of shelling has been seriously reduced, Russian permanent representative to the OSCE Andrei Kelin said on Friday.

“A fragile truce has been reached in Ukraine and is being observed. It has been lasting for 20 days. This is a rather serious term. No doubt it raises our hopes that the ceasefire will continue and that civilians won’t die,” Kelin said.

“It is clear that far from all heavy weaponry has been withdrawn. But we can state that the intensity of shelling from both sides, including from Ukraine, has been reduced by two-three times since the signing of the memorandum in Minsk,” he said.

“Totally 220 OSCE observers are now working in Ukraine and 80 out of them in Donbass. The number of observers is to increase to 350. They will be deployed in five sectors and additional technical equipment will be given to them. I mean unmanned aircraft,” Kelin said.

Kelin added that reports on shelling in Ukraine showed that Ukrainian military forces provoked them, and militias just seek to suppress the gunfire which may be harmful for civilians.

“When you look through reports where shelling takes place it becomes clear that Kiev military forces stir this up. Militias are seeking to suppress this gunfire hitting civilians,” he said.