Twenty-six civilians killed, 135 injured in Donbas in past 3 months - UN mission
KYIV. Sept 12 (Interfax) - The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has reported a decline in civilian casualties caused by the Donbas conflict and urged the warring sides to implement the ceasefire and the Minsk Agreements.
In the period between May 15 and August 16, 2017, the UN monitoring mission observed 161 civilian casualties, including 26 civilians killed and 135 injured, which was 17% less compared to the previous three-month period, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Fiona Frazer told a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday while presenting the 19th UN human rights report on Ukraine.
The mission saw a major year-on-year increase in Donbas conflict casualties in the first half of 2017, and the situation improved a bit in June and July, Frazer said.
The mission recorded 41 civilian casualties of the conflict in August, or half of last August's casualty rate, Frazer said.
The decline in civilian conflict casualties might result from the truce declared on June 24 (the 'bread truce'), she said.
As to another period of truce declared on the occasion of the new school year, Frazer urged the parties to the conflict to implement the ceasefire and demonstrate their commitment to the Minsk deal.