In a joint statement published last night, the rotating OSCE Chairman and Polish Foreign Minister of Poland, Zbigniew Rau, and the organization’s Secretary General, Helga Maria Schmid, urged the parties to “refrain from the use of strength and to de-escalate an already tense situation”.
According to the latest report from the SMM, released this Saturday, the violations of the ceasefire along the line of contact in Donbas (eastern Ukraine), where the Ukrainian government forces fight pro-Russian separatistshave continued to increase massively.
On Friday alone, 1,666 violations of the ceasefire were registered, more than triple the average number of cases reported in the previous 30 days. Of those violent acts, 1,413 were explosions. when the daily average was less than 100 last month.