Ukrainian Forces Accuse Donbass Militia of 54 Ceasefire Violations

Ukrainian forces accused militia in the country’s southeast (Donbass) of 54 ceasefire violations in the past 24 hours, according to the press center of Kiev’s military operation.

KIEV (Sputnik) — According to the statement, five violations were registered in the direction of Lugansk, 31 in the direction of Mariupol.

"In the past 24 hours… [Donbass] forces opened fire 54 times on the positions of Ukrainian defenders," the press center of Kiev’s military operation in Donbass says on its Facebook page.

A new regime of silence came into force in Donbass 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, Donbass, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation 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.