KYIV. May 29 (Interfax) - The Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said on Friday that on Thursday it had "observed an increased number of ceasefire violations in areas around Donetsk airport, as compared to previous days."

"Over a nine hour period during the day, the SMM heard 150 explosions from the west and north-west, mostly consistent with mortar (82 and 120mm) and tank fire. In the Luhansk region the SMM heard explosions in the area of government-controlled Trokhizbenka [33km north of Luhansk] and 'Luhansk People's Republic' ['LPR']-controlled Frunze [40km north-west of Luhansk]