Donbas ceasefire reaches 16th day without violations

The Donbas ceasefire, under conditions of newly imposed
coordinating mechanisms, reached its 16th day on Aug. 10 without any serious
violations for much of the duration, the press service of the Joint Forces
Operation reported this morning. In particular, no casualties and heavy
artillery fire have occurred since July 27. “Isolated incidents of its
violation don’t have a systemic character,” said Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary
of the National Security and Defense Council. “There is hope that the
agreements of the Trilateral Contact Group will continue to be fulfilled,
supported by daily statistics and processed by the SOTA program, which enables
a complex analysis of preparing and making decisions in the sphere of national
security and defense.”

Zenon Zawada: This
ceasefire is very positive, among the longest since war erupted in 2014. The
president and his political party stand to gain popularity if it’s upheld, with
possible dividends in the October local elections.

It’s striking how silent the Russians have been on
Ukraine since late July, when lead negotiator Dmitry Kozak reportedly called
for a halt to the peace talks (which his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Yermak,
attributed to the coordinating mechanisms being applied.)

Nonetheless, we are confident that military aggression
in Donbas will remain an instrument for the Russians to apply geopolitical
pressure on Ukraine. It will be used when it will become necessary.