Situation in E Ukraine deteriorating: OSCE

Eurtugrul Apakan, the chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, made the remarks in a statement posted on the organization’s official website on Tuesday.

Apakan added that over the past 24 hours the situation in eastern Ukraine, where government troops are fighting against pro-Russian forces, has “significantly deteriorated, especially near the Donetsk airport.”

The chief monitor called for “a full and immediate ceasefire and de-escalation,” encouraging both sides “to cooperate with the OSCE and to enhance the implementation of” the truce deal signed last September in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

In addition, Apakan said there have been reports of more civilian casualties across the volatile region.

Earlier in the day, more than a dozen people lost their lives in two separate attacks in the eastern city of Donetsk.

Both the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian forces have many times violated the ceasefire deal. The two sides often accuse each other of firing stray rockets and carrying out attacks, which claim the lives of civilians.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russia protests in mid-April 2014.

The latest figures released by the United Nations suggest that more than 4,700 people have been killed in the fighting so far.

Kiev and its Western allies accuse neighboring Russia of having a hand in the chaotic situation in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has denied the allegation.