How ceasefire violations have surged in Ukraine

There were more recorded violations of the ceasefire on 17 February than there were in the whole of January.

Ukrainian Servicemen of the 30th Army Brigade are seen outside of Svitlodarsk, Ukraine on January 23, 2022. Photograph by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Reported violations of the ceasefire between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatist forces on the front line in the Donbas were infrequent over the course of January and the early days of February. But according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD), there were more recorded violations of the ceasefire on 17 February than there were in the entire month of January.

In a press release published by the MoD today (18 February), 60 incidents of ceasefire violation “by the Russian occupation forces” were recorded, including 43 incidents in which weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements were utilised.