Two children have died and ten more have suffered injuries in the Donbas hostilities in 2018, the Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), Alexander Hug, said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

The OSCE SMM recorded 87 civilian deaths and 399 civilian injuries in 2017. A total of 28 civilians have been killed and 87 have been wounded since the beginning of this year, Hug said, adding that some of the casualties were children.

The OSCE SMM confirmed the death of at least three children and the injury of 39 in 2017, and two deaths and ten injuries so far this year, Hug said.

He urged the conflicting sides to disengage their forces and hardware, pull out their heavy weapons, and clear the area of mines in order to avoid civilian casualties.

The sides pledged to disengage in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote, and Petrivske, Hug said. The obligations were met at first in Petrivske and Zolote, but the process was reversed in recent weeks, he said. Forces and hardware are seen in each of those three areas every day, and the OSCE SMM confirms that troops are advancing in the Chyhari neighborhood of Yuzhne and the vicinity of Zholobok and Vodiane, he said.

Tensions persist near the Donetsk Water Filtration Station, Hug said.

The ceasefire was violated about 500 times over the past week, he said.