The conflict has left more than 9,600 people dead, majority killed before another truce deal came into effect in February 2015. Since then more than 9,500 people have been killed in the fighting.
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Ukraine’s military intelligence has announced that a Russian serviceman in east Ukraine has given himself up and shared information about the pro-Russian forces in the region.
The Ukraine government and the rebels signed a peace agreement in Belarus previous year. What’s more, the initial cease-fire has collapsed, turning an all-out war into a simmering conflict that, however, still claims lives.
It’s the first time that that the separatists, who are widely believed to be controlled by Moscow, have come with an idea of a unilateral cease-fire.
Commenting on severe losses suffered by the Ukrainian army despite the truce, Ukraine’s presidential adviser Yuriy Biryukov specified that two soldiers were killed and five wounded, in a direct attack launched by an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group. Another 15 government solders were wounded, and one more is missing.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on the European Union and the world’s biggest economies not to recognize Russia’s upcoming parliamentary elections, which treat Crimea as Russian territory.
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On Wednesday, Poroshenko is set to meet with top diplomats from France and Germany, and also hold separate talks with the foreign ministers of Britain and Poland in what appears to be part of a diplomatic blitz to discuss the conflict settlement. In a statement after the meeting on Monday the Ukrainian leader praised Western sanctions on Russian Federation since the annexation, saying they must remain in place “until the complete restoration of our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. He added that he would discuss with Ukrainian lawmakers ways to get the Minsk process moving.
