President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky says the ongoing ceasefire in Donbas that's been in place for 133 days already, has led to a drastic decrease in combat losses.
"Today marks the 133rd day since ceasefire has been declared in Donbas. The longest truce since the outbreak of war continues, the number of shellings has decreased by 80%, combat losses among the military have decreased by 90%, and there's 90% fewer combat injuries," the president said this during the celebrations on the occasion of Armed Forces Day, broadcast live on Zelensky's Facebook page.
Zelensky recalled that over the same period last year, on average, one Ukrainian soldier was killed every 72 hours.
"Now there are weeks, months without KIAs or WIAs. Perhaps this might be a harsh and atypical phrase for statistical data: in our Ukraine, there's almost 90% fewer funerals, 90% fewer tears shed by mothers, children, spouses, other relatives, and brothers-in-arms," Zelensky added.
Read alsoUkraine reports one soldier wounded by enemy sniper amid two ceasefire violations on Dec 4According to the head of state, the world sees how much Ukraine and its troops are doing for ending the war. "So that it's loud in the east only on the day when peace returns to the entire territory of Donetsk and Luhansk, when we celebrate this with major fireworks, raising our eyes to the sky in belief that Ukraine will hear only this kind of shots in the future," he said ...
Latest truce
On July 22, the participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, and OSCE) on Donbas settlement agreed on a complete and comprehensive ceasefire on the contact line from July 27.
Ceasefire deal: Details
- Ban on offensive and reconnaissance and subversive action, as well as on the use of any type of aircraft;
- Ban on opening fire, including sniper fire;
- Ban on deploying heavy weapons in settlements and the surrounding areas; in particular, civilian infrastructure: schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and public settings;
- Effective application of disciplinary measures for ceasefire violations and reporting to a TCG coordinator, who shall forward information to all participants; and
- Creation and implementation of a coordination mechanism for responding to ceasefire violations with the assistance of the Joint Control Center in its current composition.
