KIEV, August 18 (RAPSI) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a 'justice enforcement bill' into law which allows cases pending in courts in separatist southeastern regions to be transferred to other regions, RIA Novosti reported Monday.

Since mid-April, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the southeastern regions of Ukraine that had refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government after February coup.

According to a report by the mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a total of 1,367 people have been killed since the special operation in eastern Ukraine began, while nearly 117,000 of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes and cross into neighboring Russia in search of shelter.