DONETSK (Sputnik) — The deputy commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Operational Command, Eduard Basurin, accused the Ukrainian armed forces of not observing the recently agreed upon "school" truce in the country's southeastern region of Donbass.
"The 'school' truce has not not observed… When the ceasefire had just come into force, one civilian was severely wounded, and a serviceman was killed by a sniper," Basurin told reporters, adding that the Ukrainian forces continued attacks using not only grenade launchers and small arms, but also artillery and mortars.
According to the DPR Operational Command, the Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire regime over 30 times in the past 24 hours.
At the same time, the Ukrainian side accused the Donbass militia of violating the truce 22 times over the same period.
The military conflict in Ukraine has been going on since 2014, after the residents of Donbass refused to recognize the new Ukrainian government, which had come to power in what they perceive to have been a coup. In February 2015, the parties to the Ukrainian conflict signed the Minsk peace accords in an effort to end the fighting in the crisis-torn region. Despite the peace deal, the sides continue to blame each other for ceasefire violations.
