Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have accused each other of shelling residential areas despite a ceasefire, with four civilians and one soldier among the dead following a week of the deadliest fighting in over a month.
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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.
More than 6,400 people have been killed since the war started in April 2014, according to the United Nations. Attacks have minified because a tranquility deal was in fact brokered in Minsk, Belarus, five years ago, but the sides generally attack one other of infringement.
The information that East Ukraine self-defense forces from Donetsk and Lugansk are ready to pull back their smaller weapons emerged on Saturday.
Senior rebel commander Eduard Basurin denied separatists were responsible for the attacks.
Military spokesman Serhiy Galushko said the army had intercepted rebel radio traffic that also suggested separatists planned to shell the city.
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 National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine said that separatists had concentrated heavy weaponry in three points around Donetsk: in the village of Spartak, at the now-destroyed Donetsk airport, and in the Kievskiy district of the city.
“I have no explanation”.
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Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko says the people who shot down the plane are “terrorists” and need to be held accountable. “Do not believe the myths: no threat can arise since there is a whole host of preventive measures in place”, the head of state said.
