President Poroshenko expressed concern about recent escalation in Donbas / Photo from UNIAN
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has given instructions to inform the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine and Russian representatives through the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination about recent violations of the Minsk peace agreements by Russian-backed militants near the village of Starohnativka in Donbas, according to the press service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"At 06:00 Kyiv time on August 10, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko reported on the situation in the Donbas conflict zone to the President of Ukraine, "the press service wrote on Facebook.
According to the report, the situation to the south of Donetsk worsened in the last day. In violation of previous agreements, the militants were firing artillery systems and mortars on the Ukrainian army positions near the village of Starohnativka during several hours.
In turn, the Ukrainian armed forces are now conducting activities to settle the situation.
The aggravation of the situation is linked with a recent arson attack on cars of the OSCE SMM in Donetsk.
"This is the way the terrorists are trying to intimidate the representatives of the international organization and are putting pressure on monitors, preventing them from objectively presenting information about developments in the region," the report reads.
What is more, according to recent reports, Deputy Commander of the Land Forces of Russia, Colonel-General Aleksandr Lentsov whose activity is associated with the coordination of the combined Russian-separatist forces, is now in militant-controlled territory in Donbas.