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Ukraine shelling kills four civilians, soldier

Although fighting diminished, deadly clashes still continue, with three more civilians reported killed Saturday.

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held separate talks Saturday with his Ukraine, USA and German counterparts, the Kremlin announced, as fighting spiked in eastern Ukraine.

A Reuters witness reported seeing the body of man in a burning building, though it was unclear if it was the same person.

More than 6,400 people have been killed since the war started in April 2014, the United Nations has said.

Ukrainian Gen.-Maj. Andrei Taran dismissed the rebel claims as a deceptive.

Thomson ReutersLocal residents remove debris inside a damaged building, which according to locals was caused by recent shelling, in AvdiivkaDONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – The Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists accused each other on Sunday of shelling residential districts of separatist-held Donetsk overnight, the first attack on central parts of the city since a February ceasefire agreement.

Rebels in the Luhansk region are ready for a similar move, it said.

Eduard Basurin, an official with the separatist forces, accused the Ukrainian military of firing on the area from the village of Pisky near Donetsk airport. Intercepted rebel radio traffic also suggested plans to shell the city.

“I have no explanation”.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from the frontline in Pysky town, said on Sunday he saw Ukrainian army tanks in a zone that was supposed to be clear of all heavy weapons, but the soldiers justified their presence by saying that the separatists were also violating the truce deal.

There are other points of the peace memorandum signed in Minsk that have yet to be implemented by the Ukrainian side.

“We believe that we have enough strength to stand against the enemy”, Poroshenko said.

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But neither side has fully complied with the agreement, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Local residents remove debris inside a damaged building which according to locals was caused by recent shelling in Avdiivka in Donetsk region Ukraine