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Ukraine’s forces open fire on positions of pro-Russia fighters in Donetsk: Report

Saturday, 30 January 2016 5:03 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 30 January 2016 5:03 PM ]

The file photo shows a Ukrainian serviceman shooting at targets in Opytne village, close to the airport in Donetsk. (AFP Photo)

Ukraine’s forces on Saturday opened fire on positions of pro-Russia fighters in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine, reports say.

“The Ukrainian forces opened fire against the DPR militant positions near the airport at around 9 a.m. [local time],” the Donetsk News Agency quoted a DPR military source as saying.

“During the shelling, the enemy was firing 82-millimeter mortars, grenades and small arms,” the source said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Andriy Lysenko said two Ukrainian military servicemen have been injured in the special operation zone in Donbas over the past 24 hours.

“This [the injuries] happened because of the detonation of a tripwire mine near Zaitseve,” Lysenko said.

Kiev’s military press center claimed in a separate message posted on its social media page that eastern Ukraine fighters had committed multiple violations of the terms of a shaky ceasefire between the two sides of the conflict.

“Over the past 24 hours, they have opened fire 38 times against the Ukrainian Armed Forces' positions,” the press center said on its Facebook page.

The fragile truce, dubbed Minsk II, signed in the Belorussian capital city of Minsk on February 11-12, between Kiev and representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk, the two mainly Russian-speaking regions in eastern Ukraine, under the supervision of Russia, Germany and France, has been broken on an almost daily basis since it took effect.

This AFP file image shows pro-Russia fighters in Donetsk.

The truce calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons from Ukraine’s front lines and a ceasefire.

The European Union has assigned the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to record the violations of the truce.

Over 9,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict since Kiev launched military operations in the east in April 2014 to crush pro-Russia protests.

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