More than 20 civilians were killed and 105 others were injured in 2020 as a result of the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to Ukraine said on Friday
VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2021) More than 20 civilians were killed and 105 others were injured in 2020 as a result of the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to Ukraine said on Friday.
"During the four-week reporting period, the SMM corroborated reports of 12 civilian casualties. Of these, nine were caused by explosive objects. The other three casualties resulted from shelling or small-arms fire, and they occurred before additional measures took effect on 27 July 2020. The total number of civilian casualties in 2020 stands at 128: 23 fatalities and 105 injuries," the SMM said in a status report as of January 11.
Since July 27, 2020, when additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire in the region took effect, the security situation has been relatively calm, and the SMM registered 2,123 truce breaches from December 14, 2020, to January 10.
"The Mission's freedom of movement on the ground was restricted 14 times, all in non-government-controlled areas. SMM UAVs were twice targeted by smallarms fire in non-government-controlled areas and experienced signal interference assessed as caused by probable jamming on 50 occasions while flying on both sides of the contact line," the report added.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out back in 2014 when the country's military launched an offensive against Donbas militias after Donetsk and Luhansk proclaimed independence from Kiev in response to what they considered to be a coup in the Ukrainian capital. The conflict has already resulted in thousands of casualties, according to estimates by the United Nations.
In a bid to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict, Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE created the Trilateral Contact Group in 2014.
