Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, occupied by Russian-backed forces, is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world, the defence24.pl website reported.
Meanwhile, active hostilities caused injuries to three civilian men in the area from August 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021, according to a study released on Thursday and based on the work of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).
Since the beginning of the conflict, the mission said it has recorded a total of 3,375 conflict-related civilian deaths and more than 7,000 injuries.
“Even one death or injury is too many,” said the mission’s head, Matilda Bogner, as cited on the ukraine.un.org website.
“Zero civilian casualties should be the objective,” she added.
Bogner urged the “parties to the conflict” to “fully respect” a ceasefire and “comply with international humanitarian law.”
She also underlined “the need to strengthen mine awareness work, including for children and young people.”
Overall, since an agreement on measures to strengthen the ceasefire took effect on July 27, 2020, there has been a “significant improvement in the security situation and a continued decrease in civilian casualties caused by active hostilities,” Bogner said.
Ukrainian, Russian and international negotiators last year agreed on a full ceasefire between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine from July 27, putting on hold a military conflict that claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2014, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.
Russia in 2014 seized Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and backed a rebellion in the country's east.
The Polish and Ukrainian presidents in October last year issued a joint declaration calling for an end to the "illegal occupation" of Crimea and to “ongoing aggression” in Donbas.
The declaration also confirmed Poland's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
(gs/pk)
Source: defence24.pl, ukraine.un.org