Ceasfire violated 51 times by Ukraine in 24 hrs: Donetsk officials

The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic says Ukrainian forces have violated the ceasefire agreement 51 times over the past 24 hours.

“We have registered 51 shelling attacks, launched by the Ukrainian military over the past 24 hours, targeting the Kyivsky, Kuibyshevsky and Petrovsky districts of Donetsk,” said a ministry spokesman on Sunday.

The Ukrainian army reportedly used 152-millimeter howitzers to attack pro-Russia forces in Donetsk.

This is while earlier in the day, Kiev accused the region’s forces of launching 18 offensives on the Ukrainian army positions last night.

“Illegal armed groups violated the ceasefire 18 times last night, shelling the populated areas of Novotoshkovske, Chornukhyne, Ozeryanovka and Nikyshyne with grenade launchers, and launching two artillery attacks on the new terminal of the Donetsk airport,” read a statement issued by Ukraine’s military on Sunday morning.

Back in September, the representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics inked a ceasefire deal in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The truce has been almost daily violated by both the Ukrainian military and pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine.

The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev’s military operation started in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests.

Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.