Ukraine at OSCE: Disengagement areas turning into flash points

"We are especially concerned about the fact that disengagement areas near Zolote and Petrivske turn into the flash points," Ambassador Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna said at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The Ambassador cited the report of the OSCE SMM that had recorded 734 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region on October 15-17. At the same time, most of these violations "occurred inside and near the disengagement area near Petrivske."

"In Luhansk region, over the same period, the SMM recorded 78 ceasefire violations. Most of the ceasefire violations also occurred inside and near the disengagement area near Zolote," Tsymbaliuk said.

He noted that the Russian occupation forces continued to actively fire on the positions of the Armed Forces and populated localities, including from heavy weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. In addition, the Russian side, contrary to the additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire adopted in July 2020, continues to conduct reconnaissance activities: a Granat 1 Russian reconnaissance UAV was intercepted by the Ukrainian military last week.

"Recent events in the Russia–Ukraine conflict zone have shown how fragile the security situation and the peace process are because of the destructive position of the Russian Federation, its endless attempts to impose so-called direct dialogue, and the lack of political will in Moscow to implement the Minsk agreements as a signatory to these agreements and a party to the conflict," the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna said.

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