The monitors of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Donbas have been recording a rise in the number of ceasefire violations, half of which are observed in the Svitlodarsk town area (Bakhmut district of Donetsk region), OSCE SMM Principal Deputy Chief Monitor in Ukraine Alexander Hug said.
The SMM has recorded a 75 percent increase in the number of ceasefire breaches last week as compared with the week before last, he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Dec. 22. The use of weapons banned by the Minsk Agreements was clearly seen, a 300 percent increase in the use of these weapons has been recorded, Hug also said.
The monitors have recorded 985 explosions of shells of mortars, tanks, artillery guns and multiple rocket launchers, Hug said.
The majority of these explosions, to put it precisely, 843, have been recorded in the areas south and southeast of Svitlodarsk last weekend, half of all ceasefire breaches fall within this flash point, the mission’s deputy head said.
The rest of them fall within the Avdiyivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport triangle, east and southeast of Mariupol, Horlivka western districts, western parts of the Luhansk region, as well as the Donetsk suburb, he said.
Hostilities continue in the area of the Ukrainian authorities-held Svitlodarsk and Debaltseve beyond their control, as a result of this, SMM patrols had to retreat to a safe distance, Hug said.
The OSCE monitors have recorded over 1,100 explosions just yesterday, as a result, the patrols had to retreat, he said. In the end, the OSCE is not completely confident about what is really happening there, Hug said.
