VIENNA: European monitors observing Ukraine's separatist conflict on Thursday urged pro-Russian rebels and government forces to avoid a return to "large-scale military operations", as ceasefire violations escalate and casualties rise.
The warning from the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) comes after fighting surged in recent days with Kiev reporting increasing numbers of deaths among their soldiers, despite the agreement of a fragile truce aimed at halting the 26-month war in east Ukraine.
OSCE mediator Martin Sajdik urged "all parties to the conflict to not revert to large-scale military operations again", in an address to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.
He also called on both sides to respect the Minsk peace accord, signed last year in view of implementing a ceasefire and withdrawing all heavy weapons from the eastern region.
"So far, the situation is bleak especially in this regards," Sajdik said.
Meanwhile, OSCE chief monitor Ertugrul Apakan warned that more civilians had been killed or injured in the last month than in any month since August 2015.
"(Civilians) are paying the price for the failure of the forces and formations to adhere to their commitment to cease fire," he said.
Apakan said the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) was unable to fulfill its mandate -- which includes verifying the number of weapons removed from the conflict -- because of "freedom-of-movement restrictions and other impediments".
The SMM has 580 unarmed staff based in the conflict zone and recently had its mandate extended to the end of March 2017.
Nearly 9,500 people have died since Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking eastern industrial regions revolted against Kiev's pro-Western government in April 2014.
Kiev and the West have accused Russia of supporting the rebels and deploying troops across the border, both claims that Moscow denies.
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