KIEV, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The conflict in eastern Ukraine has caused 387 civilian casualties and injuries so far this year, up 18 percent from a year ago, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The casualties included 68 deaths and 319 injuries, Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor of the OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine, told reporters Friday.
Hug said the casualties continue to rise as the conflicting sides have not fully abided by the ceasefire despite their commitments under the Minsk peace agreements.
The Minsk agreements, reached in September 2014 and February 2015 respectively, envisage a cease-fire, a withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line, a prisoner exchange and local elections in Donbas, among other measures.
The conflict between government troops and pro-independence insurgents has been spreading in Ukraine's east since April 2014, claiming the lives of more than 10,000 people, including civilians and combatants on both sides, and left about 24,000 others wounded.
