A Ukrainian military spokesman says more than 90% of its forces have been withdrawn from the fiercely contested town of Debaltseve and its surroundings.

Six Ukrainian servicemen were killed during the withdrawal from the fiercely contested town of Debaltseve, the country’s president has said.

Ukraine has pulled most of its troops out of Debaltseve, president Petro Poroshenko says.

Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels fought fierce street battles for control of the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve, impeding implementation of a peace plan.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has suggested that the US is already delivering weapons to Ukraine.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has suggested that the United States is already delivering weapons to Ukraine.

Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have said they will begin withdrawing heavy weaponry from the sections of the front line where the ceasefire holds.

Moscow pledges ‘adequate’ response as EU extends sanctions

Intense artillery exchanges between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists have persisted around a strategic town in eastern Ukraine – fighting that threatens to dash a ceasefire deal brokered by European leaders last week.

A ceasefire that went into effect yesterday in eastern Ukraine appeared largely to be holding, officials said, except for around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve.

A ceasefire that went into effect today in eastern Ukraine appears largely to be holding, except around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve.

A number of artillery attacks have hit areas near the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, as the deadline for a ceasefire creeps closer, officials said.

Fierce fighting surged in eastern Ukraine yesterday as Russian-backed separatists mounted a major, sustained offensive to capture a strategic railway hub ahead of a weekend ceasefire deadline. At least 25 people were killed across the region, officials reported.

Eight Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and others wounded overnight despite a peace deal and looming ceasefire deadline, a military spokesman said today.

Guns would fall silent, heavy weapons would pull back from the front and Ukraine would trade broad autonomy for the east to get back control of its Russian border by the end of 2015 under a peace deal hammered out in negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.

Rockets killed more than 10 civilians and soldiers deep in Ukrainian government-held territory yesterday and rebels pushed on with an assault on an army-held rail junction, setbacks that showed Kiev’s position worsening on the eve of peace talks.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has intensified ahead of much-anticipated peace talks, with both sides claiming significant advances and the government accusing rebels of shelling a town far behind the front line.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed to meet in Belarus on Wednesday to try to broker a peace deal for Ukraine amid escalating violence there and signs of cracks in the transatlantic consensus on confronting Vladimir Putin.

Talks on a Ukraine peace initiative will continue with a telephone call tomorrow between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his counterpart in Kiev to discuss a proposal to end the fighting.

The leaders of Germany and France ended over five hours of “constructive talks” with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, without any word of an agreement to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.

Pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian authorities have agreed on a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the epicentre of fighting in eastern Ukraine as German and French leaders prepare to take a peace plan to Moscow.

At least five people have died after heavy shelling in rebel stronghold Donetsk in eastern Ukraine damaged a hospital, six schools and five nursery schools.

THE decision by the EU last week to extend economic sanctions against Russia until the end of September reflects the growing crisis in the region. 

Artillery fire in eastern Ukraine has killed at least eight people and wounded 22 others in the past day, rebels in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk said.

Ukrainian troops battled to repel waves of Russian-backed separatists trying to surround a strategic railway hub in eastern Ukraine, while in an ominous sign for peace efforts, the rebels announced plans to boost the size of their armed forces.

Indiscriminate rocket fire has hit a market, schools, homes and shops in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, killing at least 30 people, authorities said.

Government troops and Russian-backed separatists have largely suspended hostilities in east Ukraine in a fresh attempt to revive a largely ignored ceasefire deal.