MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - Shelling continues in Donetsk and Luhansk despite the ceasefire agreement between Kiev-led forces and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said Monday.
“The SMM [Special Monitoring Mission] observed the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, focusing on the implementation of the Minsk Protocol/Memorandum. The Mission continued to receive reports, and directly observed, shelling occurrences in a number of areas,” the OSCE said in a report published on its official website.
According to the organization, observers heard shelling in the city of Popasna, which is located some 85 km (53 miles) west of Luhansk. The SMM visited Popasna on October 11 and “whilst speaking to the local population at one of the city’s markets, it heard shelling lasting for 10 minutes and involving about 12 shells”.
In the village of Krasnogorovka near Donetsk, the monitoring mission found traces of “8 impacts consistent with incoming ‘Grad’ shelling”. It also established that the village has lacked public water supply since July.
In the town of Starobeshevo in Donetsk region the SMM observed an Uragan type missile stuck in the ground near an administrative building. According to local residents, interviewed by the OSCE observers, the missile had been deactivated by demining experts provided by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
An armed conflict started in Ukraine in April when Kiev authorities launched a military operation against independence supporters in the southeastern regions of the country.
The sides agreed on a ceasefire at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine, held in Minsk on September 5. Another meeting of the Contact Group on September 19 resulted in a memorandum, specifying the implementation of the ceasefire and stipulating the creation of a 30-kilometer (18-mile) buffer zone, withdrawal of all heavy weapons from residential areas and the deployment of monitoring mission from the OSCE in southeastern Ukraine.
