“It was ordered not to open fire starting from 8 a.m. under any circumstances, except for a direct order from the commander. A mortar shell was fired at 9.15 in the Luhansk region, and we are trying to find out who did this. There have been no escalation so far,” he said.
The incident occurred just hours after the start the "day of silence", an initiative announced last week by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a bid to kick-start the so-called "silence regime" along the line of contact with militia-controlled areas in Ukraine's southeast. Poroshenko said the step was a renewed effort to implement a ceasefire between the opposing parties. Both sides have previously agreed to lay down their arms.
Despite the truce, both warring parties have repeatedly accused each other of ceasefire violations.
Kiev Ready to All-for-All Prisoner Swap
“There were talks and statements on the prisoner swap issue yesterday. Our side said it was ready to swap all for all. The date has not been discussed so far,” Valentyn Buriachenko said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Denis Pushilin, Deputy Chair of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Parliament, stated that the sides are preparing a large prisoner exchange and plan to discuss the details on Wednesday.
“We are preparing a large prisoner exchange and the dates will be discussed tomorrow during a Skype conference and during the conference in Minsk,” Pushilin said.
“The Ukrainian side has already presented a list of 223 individuals, and from our side there are 152,” he added.
