Monitors recorded over 14,000 ceasefire violations on July 1-14 / Photo from UNIAN

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine has confirmed that three civilians were killed and 13 were injured in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the first two weeks of July 2019.

"The SMM confirmed that 3 civilians were killed and 13 were injured between July 1 and 14, bringing total number of civilian casualties since January 1, 2019 to 81 (10 deaths and 71 injuries)," the SMM OSCE said on Twitter on July 19.

In its status report as of July 15, 2019, which was published on July 19, OSCE monitors said that "the SMM observed damage caused by small-arms fire and shelling to civilian property and infrastructure in numerous locations along the contact line, including a day clinic, a power station, residential homes and functioning schools."

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"One school in Zolote, which was hit by gunfire, has sustained damage 11 times since the start of the year," it said.

The SMM also said its monitors recorded over 14,000 ceasefire violations in the first two weeks of July 2019 compared with about 14,350 cases recorded in the previous two-week period.

"In the Zolote disengagement area, where the Mission noted the continued presence of forces and hardware, the number of ceasefire violations remained high. No ceasefire violations were recorded in the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area since the Mission noted the disengagement of forces and hardware from the area on June 26," it said.