DONETSK, August 24. /TASS/. The operational command of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has reported that the Ukrainian armed forces had opened mortar fire on the area close to the Russian side’s observation post of the Joint Center for Ceasefire Control and Coordination (JCCC) in Yasinovataya.

"At 13.35 the Ukrainian side opened mortar fire on the Russian JCCC observation post near Yasinovataya. One of the fragments hit a building. The watch-dog group had to be evacuated urgently for security reasons," Donetsk News Agency quotes the command’s representative as saying.

The Ukrainian military fired at least five 120mm mortar shells at the area, the DPR command said, adding that no one was injuried.

The JCCC observation posts have been shelled from Ukrainian army positions three times over the past week and a half. The Ukrainian military used 122mm artillery guns, mortars and small arms. These are the first such incidents during the conflict.