Gunfire has resumed in Shyrokyne in Donetsk Oblast where members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) have observed the use of heavy weapons, OSCE SMM Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said.
The period of relative calm in Shyrokyne, which began after the May 19 meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, is over now, he said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Thursday. The town was quiet on May 22-23 but gunfire resumed on May 24, for instance, using large-caliber mortars. The monitors observed over 100 inbound and outbound explosions within one hour only, he said.
According to Hug, shelling resumed after an explosion which killed four separatists from the Donetsk group.
This proves how unpredictable the situation is: violence may start again despite the ceasefire agreements, Hug said. He affirmed the importance of de-escalation efforts and demining operations and said that the aforementioned explosion was most probably an accident.
