Lugansk People’s Republic militia responded to strikes at the LPR territory by opening retaliatory fire at Kiev forces’ positions with weapons not banned by the Minsk Agreements, LPR People’s Militia spokesman Ivan Filiponenko said.
Earlier, the LPR Office at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination reported that a militiaman had been wounded in Kiev forces’ strike at the Kalinovo township.
“Guided by instructions of the Head of the Republic and Article “F” of the Additional Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire, our units returned fire with weapons not banned by the Minsk Agreements in order to suppress the enemy fire activity,” Filiponenko said.
The information on enemy losses is being updated, he added.
“We’re calling on the Special Monitoring Mission international observers to focus their attention on Ukrainian armed formations’ aggression against the Lugansk People’s Republic and make the Ukrainian leadership fulfill the accords,” the spokesman said. “We also believe that OSCE SMM representatives have to demand that Ukraine carry out a detailed probe into the incident and name the culprits in accordance with Article 4 of the Additional Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire for criminal prosecution.”
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regularly violated the truce opening fire with large calibre artillery, mortars and tank guns which were to have been withdrawn in accordance with the Minsk agreements.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
