Fighting resumes in eastern Ukraine

On the night of August 9, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a counterattack near the village of Starognatovka in Donetsk region. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports that the pro-government forces gained significant territory in the attack. Seven Ukrainian soldiers have been wounded, and there are reports of several casualties on the side of the separatists.

Earlier, Ukrainian media reported that the fighting in eastern Ukraine had escalated. According to the press office of the Ukrainian operation in the east of the country, the separatists had violated the ceasefire 111 times on August 9 alone. The press office reported that tanks, heavy artillery, mortar launchers, and multiple rocket launchers were used in the attacks launched by the separatists. One Ukrainian soldier died and ten were wounded.

Eduard Basurin, representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, claimed that that the Ukrainian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire 18 times on August 9. Basurin said that the separatists did not fire from heavy artillery.

“The enemy was stopped and pushed back about 2 to 3 kilometers,” states a message on the official website of the Ukrainian defense.

The conflict in the east of Ukraine between separatists and pro-government forces has been raging since April 2014. In February 2015, a ceasefire agreement was drawn up in Minsk by Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany. The separatists and the pro-government forces have accused each other of violating the peace agreement many times.

An OSCE monitoring mission has been deployed in Ukraine to observe compliance with the terms of the ceasefire. On the night of August 8, four armored OSCE vehicles were destroyed in an arson attack in Donetsk region.

At the end of last month, OSCE observers came under fire twice in two days. An OSCE patrol leader suffered a concussion from one of the attacks.