DONETSK (Sputnik) – Members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Red Cross missions in Ukraine had to leave the airport of Donetsk Thursday due to fire from positions held by Kiev forces, the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said.
The missions, whose members monitor the recovery of dead bodies from the bombed-out airport buildings, "were forced to stop their activities at the airport's new terminal a bit earlier than planned because of yet another shelling by the enemy," the Donetsk News Agency quoted a defense ministry spokesman as saying.
The ceasefire in southeastern Ukraine between Kiev forces and local militias, in force from February 15, was brokered by the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine in Minsk, Belarus. However, the OSCE has been reporting some violations of the truce ever since it became effective, including in the area of Donetsk airport.
Donetsk airport, a strategic point in the region, became the site of intensified fighting between the warring sides in the beginning of 2015 despite a previous truce deal signed in September 2014.
The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 6,000 lives since its beginning in April 2014, according to UN estimates.
