The Ukrainian forces have violated the so-called school ceasefire in the embattled eastern Donbas region by shelling the territory under the control of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), the spokesman of the LPR militia Andrei Marochko said Thursday.
LUHANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2018) The Ukrainian forces have violated the so-called school ceasefire in the embattled eastern Donbas region by shelling the territory under the control of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), the spokesman of the LPR militia Andrei Marochko said Thursday.
The "school" ceasefire, timed to the beginning of the new school year, has been effective since Wednesday. The new attempt to stabilize the situation in Donbas was agreed upon by the members of the Contact Group on Ukraine that includes Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Europe.
"The Ukrainian Armed Forces have once against failed to fulfill their promises and violated the conditions of the 'school' truce. At 01:50 p.m. [10:50 GMT], grenades were fired from an automatic grenade launcher from the Pishchane area on the LPR militia positions in the Khrystove village," Marochko said.
In 2014, the Ukrainian army started an offensive against Donbas residents who refused to recognize the newly-formed government. The conflict between LPR and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on one side and the Kiev forces on the other has claimed over 10,000 lives according to UN figures and is still ongoing.
Efforts to stabilize the situation in eastern Ukraine have been made by the Normandy Four group comprising Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany.
In particular, the Normandy Four brokered the Minsk peace accords, which were signed by the sides to the conflict in a bid to end hostilities in the area. However, the warring parties have failed to observe the ceasefire, so the unrest in Donbas continues.
