Donbass, January 17th, 2018

During the past day, the AFU did not shell the Lugansk People’s Republic; the cease-fire regime was fulfilled. Nevertheless, the districts of six settlements in the DPR were under the shelling by the Ukrainian troops. The enemy used mortars, grenade launchers, large-caliber and small arms, «the commanders noted.

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The rumors about the preparation of the mobilization of troops in the Donetsk People’s Republic do not correspond to reality, the military commissariats carry out planned measures to check the citizens in reserve, the military commissioner of the Republic Alexander Malkovsky said.

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Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada did not recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as «terrorist organizations,» News One reported. For the corresponding amendment to the bill on the reintegration of Donbass, only 76 parliamentarians out of 340 voted. The Rada is considering this document in the second reading. It gives the president the right to use armed forces in the region in peacetime to protect the sovereignty of the country that will legitimize the use of the army in the east without declaring war. In the law, the territories of Donbass that are not controlled by Kiev are recognized as «occupied», and Russia is called an aggressor country.

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Ukrainian forces said that on Wednesday, during a military task in Lugansk direction as a result of the explosion of equipment on an unknown explosive device two soldiers were killed, five more were injured. They are hospitalized.