Small arms and heavy weapons, which under the Minsk agreements were due to be withdrawn from the contact line, have been actively used in the disengagement area in southeastern Ukraine over the past week, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) deputy head, Alexander Hug, said.

On Wednesday, outside the railway station in Yasynuvata, OSCE SMM monitors recorded 178 explosions, at the same time, they did not take into account shots by light weapons and machineguns, he said at a Skype conference on Friday.

On Thursday, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) actually refused to permit an OSCE SMM patrol to travel to Yasynuvata, another hot spot in the road between the Luhanske and Debaltseve localities; the monitors heard 40 blasts and shots by mortars and grenade launchers outside Svitlodarsk on Wednesday, he said.

The mission's deputy head said that under these circumstances, patrolling was risky. On Tuesday, an explosion went off 50 meters away from the monitors in Yasynuvata, a bullet hit a metallic strip 10 meters away from the OSCE SMM members, and another bullet hit the ground three meters in front of them in Zaitseve, he said.

In this regard, he said that the monitors were not armed and were not participants in the conflict.

The OSCE SMM in Ukraine is 723 people strong, including 608 who are staying in eastern Ukraine, as of Friday, Hug said.