DONETSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) As many as two people were killed and two others injured in shelling in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) over the past 24 hours, Eduard Basurin, the deputy commander of the DPR Operational Command, said on Friday.
"We suffered losses as a result of enemy shelling. Two our defenders died and two others sustained injuries," Basurin told reporters.
According to Basurin, 34 violations of ceasefire in Donbas by Ukrainian forces were registered during the past week. A total of 24 houses were damaged in the DPR as a result.
The conflict in Donbas started in 2014, when Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics that refused to recognize the new government in Kiev, which came to power after what they considered to be a coup.
In February 2015, the warring parties signed the Minsk peace accords to end the hostilities in the region, but the situation has remained tense, with both parties accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
On Wednesday, the Contact Group on Ukraine, which is comprised of representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE, agreed on a new truce in Donbas ahead of the new academic year starting from August 29.
