Meanwhile, the fighting continued in eastern Ukraine, with three civilians and a Ukrainian soldier killed in the previous 24 hours.
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Weapons with a calibre of over 100mm were supposed to have been removed from the battle field under the ceasefire agreement signed in the Belarus capital Minsk in February that aimed to end a conflict that has killed more than 6,500 people since April 2014.
A man was killed during shelling Saturday night in Donetsk and a female doctor was injured when a shell hit the nearby N23 hospital, rebel authorities told AFP.
The claims Sunday by the Russia-backed rebels in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions could not immediately be confirmed.
Ukraine’s military and pro-Russian separatists have accused each other of shelling central areas of the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
Independent experts, the Ukrainian government, Western leaders and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation have all accused Russia of supplying the separatists with weaponry and troops, but Moscow denies the charge and says any Russians fighting in Ukraine are volunteers.
Ukrainian military observers said they witnessed rebel missile systems “turned towards Donetsk, shelling residential areas of Donetsk, then turning and starting to fire in the direction of Ukrainian positions”, Ukrainian General Andriy Taran said in a televised briefing.
None of the casualty reports could be independently verified.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is monitoring the ceasefire, has said neither side has fully withdrawn heavy artillery from the frontline as required by the peace deal.
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On Friday, the head of the OSCE Ivica Dacic described a worsening humanitarian crisis in the east and urged both sides to adhere to the Minsk agreement, which he said was the only chance to achieve peace.
