KIEV/SLAVIANSK, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - Pro-Kiev forces and independence supporters exchanged fire in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk on Wednesday night, according to a representative from the headquarters of the Slaviansk protesters.
"In particular, a [Ukrainian] army battery shelled our checkpoint near Kramatorsk from Karachun [a mountain near Slaviansk] and also shelled the villages of Semenivka and Cherevkovka, and the Artema district of Slaviansk. We silenced the battery by return fire from three mortars and also shelled a checkpoint near the airport in Kramatorsk. According to our data, the army is bringing one more howitzer battery to Karachun," the spokesman for the headquarters of the independence forces said.
It has become apparent that a cease-fire is not in effect, although the intensity of shooting has reduced over the past days, the representative added.
Ukrainian security officials claim independence forces shelled several checkpoints in Donetsk Region, leaving ten military personnel injured.
"Ten paratroopers have been injured; three of them are in critical condition," spokesman from Kiev's military operation in the eastern regions Aleksiy Dmitrashkovsky, told television channel 112 Ukraine.
On June 20, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared a ceasefire between Kiev-led armed forces and independence supporters in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Poroshenko also presented a peace plan for the settlement of the crisis. The prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic Alexander Boroday stated that the Donetsk and Luhansk independence forces have agreed to observe the armistice. The truce has been shaky ever since, with both parties blaming each other for certain acts of violence, even after the agreement had been made.
