Ukrainian forces, rebels trade charges of truce violations

Kiev, March 23: The Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatist militias accused each other on Monday of violating the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, where, according to the UN more than 6,000 people have died since the conflict began. The Ukrainian command said that the “enemy” was continuously firing at military positions starting Sunday night until early Monday morning, Efe news agency reported citing a statement posted on the command’s official Facebook account.

According to Kiev, the pro-Russian militants tried to launch an attack on positions of the government forces near Shirokino, a village south of the eastern region of Donetsk. However, it was repelled by the Ukrainian troops. “The enemy opened fire 12 times in total from 8 p.m. until midnight. Another five violations of the ceasefire were observed from midnight until 5 a.m. on Monday,” said the military statement, without reporting casualties from the Ukrainian ranks. Conversely, the separatist command of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said that in the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian troops violated the ceasefire 52 times, and used bombs against rebel positions at least 24 times. (ians)