Shelling of Ukrainian army position stops – General Staff

KYIV. Feb 15 (Interfax) – Acting spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Vladyslav Seleznyov has announced that the shelling of army positions in Eastern Ukraine stopped as of 3 a.m. on Sunday.

“The ceasefire in the zone of the antiterrorist operation is generally observed since midnight. Since that time members of illegal armed formations irregularly conducted disturbing fire. As of 3 a.m. the shelling stopped,” he said at a Sunday briefing in Kyiv.

Seleznyov said that out of the 10 instances of fire that occurred after the enforcement of the ceasefire nine were registered in the area of Debaltseve.

He said the army is ready for any challenges. “If the country’s top leadership decides to change the current format, I mean the ceasefire, the ATO force is ready to act respectively,” the acting spokesman said.

Meanwhile, chief of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry department for Donetsk region Vyacheslav Abroskin said that the situation in Debaltseve on Sunday morning was generally calm.

The fact that it is quiet in Donetsk on Sunday and the ceasefire is violated only in the area of Debaltseve was reported by a representative of the defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Vladyslav Brig.

“Hostilities are under way in the area of the Debaltseve pocket. It is quiet now in Donetsk. To my mind there has been no fire since midnight. If there are any violations, then only in that area. The pocket is within our zone beyond the frontline. If they leave unarmed, we will let them go,” Brig said to Govorit Moskva radio.