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EU Expresses Concern Over Intensified Shelling in Eastern Ukraine Despite Ceasefire

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The European Union on Thursday expressed concern over the growing number of violations of the fragile truce between Kiev-led forces and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine.

BRUSSELS, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union on Thursday expressed concern over the growing number of violations of the fragile truce between Kiev-led forces and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine.

"We are concerned about the intensification, in spite of the ceasefire in place, of shooting and shelling in eastern Ukraine, which led yesterday to the tragic death of several civilians near a school in Donetsk," a spokesman for the European External Action Service (EEAS, or EAS) said in a statement.

"We recall that a lasting ceasefire remains key to the success of the current efforts to reach a sustainable political solution, based on respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The EU stands ready to support any efforts to this effect," the statement said.

Earlier on Thursday, the prime minister of Ukraine's self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) told RIA Novosti that the aggravated situation in the region may have a negative impact on the process of the Minsk talks on Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the shelling of Donetsk by Ukrainian forces left 11 people dead and around 40 injured. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the violence.

Representatives of Ukraine and the country's independence supporters agreed on a ceasefire at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine held in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on September 5. Both sides have subsequently accused each other of violating the truce.

Another meeting of the Contact Group, held on September 19, resulted in a memorandum, specifying the provisions of the ceasefire. The memorandum stipulates the creation of a 30-kilometer (18-mile) buffer zone, withdrawal of all heavy weapons from residential areas and deployment of a monitoring mission from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in southeastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has been engulfed in a violent internal conflict since mid-April, when Kiev began its military operation against independence supporters in the southeastern regions of the country. The conflict claimed the lives of more than 3,500 people, according to UN estimates.

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