OSCE SMM Calls for Immediate Cessation of Hostilities in Donetsk Region

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine's Chief Monitor Ertugrul Apakan on Tuesday called on the conflicting sides in eastern Ukraine to immediately cease hostilities on the line of contact in the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport area.

"Escalation in the area is of grave concern, with the civilian population greatly suffering. Violence on such a scale, involving the loss of life, is unacceptable and the protection of civilians must be paramount," Apakan said in a statement published on the OSCE website.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko interrupted his visit to Germany due to the aggravation of the security situation on the line of contact in eastern Ukraine. As a result of ceasefire violations, water supply and power were reported to be cut in the town of Avdiivka. Poroshenko tasked his aides with calling for the extraordinary session of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine to discuss the situation in the town.

Apakan said that the Special Monitoring Mission had reported on civilian casualties and observed damage to civilian homes and infrastructure. The chief monitor confirmed that the water filtration plant in Yasynuvata, which provides thousands of people on both sides of the contact line with heating, electricity and water, had been damaged.

Earlier in the day, spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Alexander Motuzyanik said that three Ukrainian officers were killed and 24 were injured over the past 24 hours in the eastern Ukraine hostilities.

On January 29, the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) informed of the aggravation of situation in Donbas. According to the ministry, the Ukrainian military fired 900 shells toward the DPR territory on Sunday. The shelling continued on Monday and Tuesday.