VIENNA (Sputnik) — The intensity of the conflict in eastern Ukraine has decreased since August, the deputy chief of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) monitoring mission to the country said on Tuesday.
"The intensity of the conflict is changed, the number of violations is going down, compared to the middle August for instance, but also the nature of the conflict has changed, while the 15-16 of August was the peak in this summer, [when] the fight was fought with MRLS [multiple launch rocket system], big heavy artillery — that is changed," Alexander Hug said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Hug also underscored that all sides to the Ukraine conflict had provided the OSCE mission with lists of the weapons they have withdrawn from the contact line. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) militia has also provided information on the places where its withdrawn weapons are currently stored.
Ukraine’s southeastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions were targeted by a special military operation by Kiev in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian government, which came to power as the result of what many in the local population considered to be a coup.
In February 2015, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the two sides in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
The OSCE has been tasked with monitoring the implementation of all provisions of the Minsk peace deal, which include a full ceasefire, a weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, an all-for-all prisoner exchange and constitutional reforms.
