New Ceasefire Comes Into Force in Ukraine’s Troubled Southeast

A new regime of silence has come into force in Ukraine’s southeast (Donbas), where Kiev forces are conducting a military operation against independence supporters, according to self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

DONETSK (Sputnik) – A new regime of silence has come into force in Ukraine’s southeast (Donbas), where Kiev forces are conducting a military operation against independence supporters, a representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) told RIA Novosti.

"At 00:00 on September 15 yet another ceasefire came into force. Before that, artillery fire was registered from the direction of the [Ukrainian] security forces on the territory of DPR," a spokesperson of the DPR Defense Ministry said.

Previously, a new ceasefire regime came into force in Donbas on September 1. The ceasefire agreement was reached between Ukraine’s conflicting sides during a Contact Group meeting in August.

The Trilateral Contact Group, which includes representatives from Kiev, Donbas, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), hold regular meetings in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, aimed at facilitating a diplomatic resolution of the armed conflict in Ukraine’s southeast.

Kiev launched a special military operation in Ukraine’s southeast in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of a coup.

In February 2015, a peace agreement was signed between Ukraine’s conflicting sides in Minsk. Despite the fact that the deal stipulated a full ceasefire in Donbas, violations both on the part of Kiev forces and local militia have been reported.