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Back to school ceasefire begins in Ukraine
 Both sides in the ongoing conflict between Russian backed militants and Ukrainian soldiers have agreed to a "Back to School" ceasefire, set to begin at midnight Friday, August 25th, according to Russian language news accounts. The ceasefire is expected to last for a week, to August 31st. The region was supposed to have a Harvest Time ceasefire July 31st, but that broke down quickly. Both sides have been party to numerous ceasefires since the first one in the fall of 2014, when the war in southeastern Ukraine went hot; but both sides have done very little maintain the ceasefires. As with most modern ceasefires, both sides have been getting their licks in before the deadline. The Ukrainian ministry of defense said in a news report posted on lb.ua that rebel mortar fire was reported in Lugansk, near Novoaleksandrovka and Katerinovka. Rebel mortar fire was reported at Avdievka and further south, at Chermalyk. According to rebel media, Ukrainian medium and heavy mortar fire were reported at Gorlovka, and near Mariupol. A separate report posted on Colonel Igor Gikin's V Kontackte page, quoting unidentified militant spokesmen, said that Ukrainian artillery hit Yasinovataya and the airport. Small arms fighting was reported in Spartak, which is directly adjacent to the Donetsk airport and in Lugansk at Kalinovo. A later rebel news release on the website of the Donetsk ministry of defense noted that Ukrainian heavy guns have been silent since midnight. Posted by: badanov 2017-08-25 |
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