Due to the increasing escalation at the line of contact, the working subgroup for security held an extraordinary meeting via videoconferencing on May 22. According to the DPR Representative Office to the JCCC and negotiation process, the main task of the parties was to agree on the wording of the draft statement of the Contact Group in the context of ensuring the effectiveness of the current indefinite ceasefire through additional measures of its enhancement and monitoring.
The situation at the line of contact has significantly deteriorated since March. According to the information from the DPR Office to the JCCC and negotiation process, the AFU have violated the ceasefire 926 times since 14 March to the present time, having fired 9,370 items of ammunition on the Republic, including 3,185 rounds with weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements.
Photo @ DPR Official Website
These attacks have caused civilian casualties, destruction and damage to houses and infrastructure. During the above-mentioned period, 4 civilians were killed and 22 suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity, including 5 minors. Seven residential buildings are completely destroyed, 271 buildings and 55 infrastructure facilities are damaged.
Suburbs of Gorlovka and the southern Republic were hotspots of tension, as well as Staromikhaylovka, Donetsk (the village of Trudovskaya Mine, the village of Oktyabrskaya Mine, the Volvo Center) and Dokuchayevsk.
According to OSCE SMM reports, the monitors spotted prohibited armament and equipment the AFU deployed in violation of disengagement lines, in the security zone and outside the storage areas during the mentioned period.
The DPR representative reminded that the Republics had repeatedly sent the drafts of additional measures for enhancing and monitoring the existing ceasefire.
“The existing ceasefire was agreed in July 2019 to be indefinite and comprehensive. However, the AFU attack territories of the Republics actually every day, the number of victims among the civilian population is growing. In order to reduce escalation, it is necessary to approve and sign without delay the additional ceasefire enhancement and monitoring measures. There will not be any more victims among innocent people only if we achieve a complete ceasefire, then it will be possible to quickly restore critical infrastructure and housing,” Alexey Nikonorov stated.
The official representative noted that Ukraine openly ignores any peace initiatives, leading the negotiation process into polemics and obstruction.
“During their speech, representatives of Kiev could not say anything intelligible on any case of death and injury of civilians, nor on any case of destruction and damage to housing and civilian infrastructure, despite the fact that it was the Ukrainian party who had initiated the emergency meeting of the working subgroup for security. Instead, they were concerned about the statements of the heads of the republics and demanded that the orders on putting People’s Militia units on full alert be immediately revoked.
Ukraine’s destructive stance, constant ultimatums and lack of sound logic do not bring compromise decisions any closer, and also completely negate all progress towards peace and stability. No agreement was reached during the meeting,” Nikonorov summed up.