Kiev fires at Donetskiy in new show of reluctance to implement Minsk accords - Pasechnik

Ukraine again showed its reluctance to implement the Minsk Agreements by delivering a strike at the Donetskiy township, Lugansk People’s Republic Head Leonid Pasechnik said.

A Donetsky resident was seriously wounded when Ukrainian forces fired at the township on July 7.

“Ukraine again showed its “willingness and striving” towards the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. Just a few hours after the Contact Group video conference which was as unproductive as before, Kiev made haste to move from words to deeds. Ukrainian gunmen delivered a treacherous and cynical strike with 120mm mortars, banned by the Minsk Agreements, at the civilian population of the Donetskiy township,” Pasechnik said.

He reminded that a local resident had been "seriously wounded in the shelling and that the Republic’s defenders had to open return fire with weapons not banned by the Minsk Agreements.”

“Mr (Ukrainian President Vladimir) Zelensky, when will you have played war to your heart’s content? Or do you need it to justify before the whole world your wish to fence yourself off Donbass hiding behind the arrangements for the respective referendum?” the LPR leader said. “You articulated such plans just recently. I’ll tell you again: it is in our interest to stop fratricide and destruction! You made way towards power using such slogans. Let us work on a peaceful settlement on the conflict.”

Earlier, the LPR People’s Militia press service reported that three houses in the Donetskiy township had been damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces.

The Additional Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire, effective since 00:01 July 27, 2020, ban offensive and commando operations, use of unmanned aerial vehicles, deployment of heavy armaments in or in proximity to residential areas etc. They envision punishment for violators and the use of the coordination mechanism to respond to ceasefire violations. Return fire is allowed in case of offensive, if the order is given by the leadership of Ukrainian forces or DPR and LPR People’s Militias after the unsuccessful attempt to use the coordination mechanism. The Contact Group shall be notified about such orders.

The members of the Contact Group have announced ceasefire more than 20 times since the autumn of 2014. Kiev forces regularly violated the truce opening fire with large calibre artillery, mortars and tank guns which were to have been withdrawn in accordance with the Minsk agreements. 

The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014. Conflict settlement relies on the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, signed on February 12, 2015 in the Belarussian capital by the Contact Group members and coordinated by the Normandy Four heads of states (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine). The document provides for ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line. *i*s