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Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak has said only random shots were recorded in Donbas amid the newly-agreed truce.

He called on the public to distinguish between single shots, which are now recorded in the JFO [Joint Forces Operation] area from the armed formations, from shelling. And it is precisely the shelling on the front line that has not yet taken place since the beginning of the ceasefire, Khomchak said during the president's working trip to Donbas.

Read alsoDonbas truce: Ukraine reports two violations since midnight Aug 7

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"In our territory in Ukraine, where there is no war, there are so many shooting and explosions every day... But here is the contact line. And in general, there were such random shots before during more serious shelling," he said.

According to Khomchak, not a single shot was recorded on the contact line on August 6, while two shots were made in different places on August 7.

"Previously, we did not record them at all. They are random, they do not reach our positions. But we have clearly determined that we are not deceiving anyone. First of all, public, so that everyone understands what is happening. In general, they could not be taken into account," Khomchak said.

Background

  • Participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, and OSCE) on the peace settlement in Donbas on July 22 agreed on full and comprehensive ceasefire along the contact line from 00:01 on Monday, July 27.
  • The new ceasefire regime was enforced at 00:01 Kyiv time on July 27.
  • On the very first day of the newly-agreed truce, Russia's hybrid military forces mounted three attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.
  • Ukraine reported more fire provocations were reported over the past few days.