Ukrainian Forces in Donbass Claim Being Attacked 3 Times During Day

KIEV (Sputnik) - The Ukrainian Joint Forces operating in Donbass claimed on Sunday that their positions had been shot three times by alleged Russian armed groups.

According to the Joint Forces Operation's command, the positions were fired at with heavy machine guns, mortars, and anti-tank grenade launchers.

"During the day there have been no registered losses among the personnel of the Joint Forces due to the shootings", the command wrote on Facebook.

On 9 November, both the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militants and the Ukrainian security forces began the withdrawal of troops near Petrivske, with the process monitored by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The same day, the DPR announced that it had fully withdrawn its forces from the area. On 11 November, the Ukrainian military said that it had also completed the practical phase of the troop pullout.

The withdrawal began when Kiev agreed to the Donbass peace plan called "the Steinmeier formula", which would see the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, collectively known as Donbas, gain special status within the country. The withdrawal began on the contact line at the villages of Zolote in Lugansk and Petrivske in Donetsk.

On 21 July, an indefinite ceasefire between Ukraine, and the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk entered into force.

In April 2014, the Ukrainian government launched an offensive against the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics, which claimed independence after what they considered to be a coup in Ukraine two months earlier.