MINSK, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- An official of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Thursday that the number of civilian casualties in the conflict zone in Ukraine's Donbas has substantially decreased in 2018.
In 2018, the number of civilian casualties in Donbas decreased by half compared to 2017, said Martin Sajdik, OSCE's special representative in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), following the first TCG meeting this year in Minsk. OSCE reported 478 civilian casualties in Donbas in 2017.
The TCG is a group of representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE to facilitate a diplomatic solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Thousands of people lost their lives in the more than four years of military confrontation between government troops and separatist militants in eastern Ukraine, according to United Nations estimation.
Thanks to the New Year truce, the number of cease-fire violations from Dec. 29 to Jan. 15 was almost halved compared to the same previous period, the official said.
However, unfortunately, there has been a trend of increasing number of cease-fire violations in recent days, he added.
The next TCG meeting will be held in Minsk on Jan. 30.
