Ukrainian Forces Shell Donetsk Region Settlements in Violation of Ceasefire

Ukrainian forces have shelled several settlements in the southeastern Donetsk region, despite the ceasefire agreed upon in Minsk, the Donetsk News Agency reports.

DONETSK (Sputnik) – There is no immediate information on damages or casualties, according to the source.

"At about 23:00 [20:00 GMT] Ukrainian servicemen started shelling the Trudovskiye settlement and the Alexandrovka settlement," a source in the security services of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) told the Donetsk News Agency on Wednesday.

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

The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics (DPR and LPR), established in Ukraine’s southeast after the May 2014 independence referendums, have been calling for more autonomy from Kiev.

In February 2015, a peace agreement was signed between the two sides in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The agreement has several provisions, including a full ceasefire, a weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, and an all-for-all prisoner exchange.

Despite the Minsk peace deal, sporadic shelling continues in Ukraine’s southeast.