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Ukraine has reported five attacks by Russia's hybrid military forces in Donbas on the first day of the so-called "school ceasefire," which was declared as of August 25, according to the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters.
In total, the enemy more than halved the number of its attacks on Ukrainian troops in the east of Ukraine, the ATO HQ wrote on Facebook on Friday, August 25.
"Militants opened fire near the village of Zaitseve in the Donetsk sector at night. The fire did not last long. Further, Russian mercenaries used grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns near Avdiyivka's industrial zone several times," the ATO HQ's press center said.
Read alsoUkraine reports 3 WIA's amid 22 enemy attacks in last dayNo artillery systems and mortars were used. Fire was random and more of provocative nature.
Ukrainian positions on the outskirts of the village of Vodiane was a hot spot in the Mariupol sector, it added.
"Ukrainian troops did not open fire as they had strictly been observing the ceasefire commitments. We hope the newly agreed, so-called 'school ceasefire' will become the grounds for a lasting peace in Donbas," the ATO HQ added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on August 22 had a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during which the Normandy Four leaders expressed support for the Donbas ceasefire on the occasion of a new school year, which is to begin on September 1.
Members of the Trilateral Contact Group for the settlement of the Donbas crisis on August 23 agreed on a new ceasefire before the start of the new school year. It was scheduled to take hold at midnight on August 25.
Previous attempts to agree on a truce during the harvesting campaign from June 24 to August 31 failed, as Russian proxies shelled Ukrainian troops every day.