More than 1,500 ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine in 24 hours, according to OSCE

OSCE monitors recorded more than 1,500 ceasefire violations in 24 hours in the pro-Russian separatist east of Ukrainea record so far this year, the institution reported on Saturday.

From Thursday afternoon to Friday night, observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 591 violations of the ceasefire were noted in Donetsk and 975 in Luganskthe two separatist enclaves.

The heaviest fighting took place in the northwestern region of Luganskabout 20 kilometers southeast of Severodonetsk, a town loyal to the government of Kyiv.

The OSCE, whose members include Russia Y United Statesdeployed its peacekeeping mission in Ukraine in 2014 after the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the outbreak of a conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists in the region of donbaswhich has caused more than 14,000 deaths.

On Saturday, the organization warned of a “drastic increase” of the violations of the ceasefire signed in 2015.

The Ukrainian army reported that two soldiers were killed this Saturday in a bombardment by separatists.

And a dozen shells exploded a few hundred meters from the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, Denis Monastirski, when he was visiting the front line with the separatists, AFP reporters said.