DONETSK, November 16 (Sputnik) —The People's Council and the Federation of Trade Unions of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) released a statement Saturday, calling on the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to put an end to the bloodshed in Eastern Ukraine.
"We are not calling for revenge, but we are calling on you, on all the people of good will to put an end to this abuse… We strongly condemn any violence of the Ukrainian army against the civilians and turn on you, the advocates of human rights," said the statement, published on the LPR official website.
The statement said that Kiev's forces were deliberately destroying the region's infrastructure, including the power, water, heat and gas distribution systems, as well as schools, kindergartens, libraries, recreation centers and railway stations. According to the document, a maternity hospital in Pervomaisk, town in Luhansk Region, had come under shelling Saturday morning.
"We call on the international organizations — the UN, the OSCE and the others, aimed at protecting the peace — with one single question: do the millions of residents of southeastern Ukraine have a right to independently decide their future or should they be punished for their effort to return to a peaceful life," the statement concluded.
In April, Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation in the country's southeast, where independence supporters refused to recognize the new government which ceased power in Kiev following a coup in February.
On September 5, the warring sides struck a breakthrough deal that resulted in the establishment of a ceasefire in the eastern regions of Ukraine. However, both sides have been accusing each other of violating the truce since the ceasefire agreement came into force.
According to the latest figures by the United Nations, the Ukrainian conflict has claimed more than 4,000 lives.
