The Joint Centre for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire in the Donbas stated that the number of ceasefire violations in the Donbas has increased because Russia has increased the number of heavy equipment and weapons by nearly tenfold over the past month, the Joint Forces Operation’s [JFO] press center reported on Facebook.
“In July, the OSCE SMM registered an unprecedented increase in heavy weapons and military equipment, found in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region. Compared with June 2018, the number increased by more than 200 units, or 8.5 times,” they stated.
Two tank battalions, two self-propelled artillery and towed howitzer divisions, about a hundred AFV, anti-aircraft weapons and more were observed in the Donbas.
“In general, OSCE SMM registered 216 artillery bombardments by the Russian Armed Forces in a single week, from June 28 to August 3. This accounts for 94% of all registered ceasefire violations, 24% more than the previous week,” the JFO emphasized.
On August 2, the OSCE SMM’s drone detected two batteries of BM-21 Grad multi-rocket launcher systems, two batteries of D-30 122-mm howitzers and more than twenty armored vehicles in the Donetsk Oblast, which were moving in columns and outside of designated arms storage areas.
During that period, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven others were injured. On August 3, an 80-year-old woman was wounded in the Ukraine-controlled village of Zaliznyi by the enemy’s artillery bombardment.
Militarized Russian paramilitary units also hamper the OSCE work and restrict access to the forces separation area. Within one week, from July 27 to August 2, militants opened fire at OSCE’s drones fourteen times and disrupted its work with the help of special equipment. Access to the facilities, provided by the agreements for the OSCE SMM’s patrols, was also denied 176 times.
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