Clashes cast doubt on Ukraine ceasefire

Clashes broke out outside the main rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine, throwing the freshly forged ceasefire deal between government troops and Russian-backed separatists into further doubt.

At least two houses blazed in the rural village of Spartak, which lies just north of Donetsk and adjacent to the airport, after they were hit by fire. A man whose house was struck by a shell said rebels had fired from a spot nearby, which appeared to have provoked a retaliatory attack from Ukrainian government troops. This pattern has been regularly observed in the nearly five-month-long military confrontation.

A group of rebel fighters in the village danced and drank in celebration after what they said was a successful assault on a Ukrainian military encampment in the vicinity. One said their group had captured eight government troops, although none of these captives could be seen.

The fighter, who provided only the nom de guerre Khokhol, freely acknowledged that the ceasefire was not being respected by either side.

“There was mortar shelling around 20 minutes ago here in Spartak,” he said. “There is no ceasefire for anyone.”

The truce signed on Friday appeared to be holding for much of the following day, but was shattered late on Saturday by shelling on the outskirts of the southeastern port town of Mariupol, where Ukrainian troops retain defensive lines against the rebels. The city council said yesterday that one civilian was killed there and a serviceman wounded.

The volunteer pro-government Azov Battalion said on Facebook that their positions were also hit by Grad rockets, but did not give details.

Mariupol is located on the coast of the Sea of Azov, 115km south of Donetsk. Rebels recently opened a new front on the coast, leading to fears that they were trying to secure a land corridor between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in March.

Amnesty International yesterday condemned all those engaged in the grinding conflict that according to UN estimates has claimed at least 2,600 civilian lives and forced hundreds of thousands out of their homes.

“All sides in this conflict have shown disregard for civilian lives and are blatantly violating their international obligations,” Amnesty International secretary general Salil Shetty said.

Blasts powerful enough to be heard in downtown Donetsk could be heard coming from the direction of the airport early in the morning. The terminal, now little more than a burned-out husk, has been under the control of government troops since May and has come under unremitting attacks from Russian-backed separatist forces since then.

A rebel statement said Ukrainian forces fired on their positions in six locations on Saturday, including near the Donetsk airport, and several rebels were killed.

In nearby Spartak, resident Anastasia Ivanusenko, who moved to Donetsk to escape the most intense fighting, learned her house had been destroyed as she was coming to pick up some basic items for her child.

“I have a little baby and we are temporarily living in a dormitory. We wanted to get the stroller, some warm clothes for the child,” she said, quietly sobbing on a bench across the road from her burning home. “There was no way to get into the house.”

Ukraine, Russia, the Kremlin-backed separatists and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe signed the ceasefire deal in Minsk on Friday evening. The negotiators agreed on the withdrawal of all heavy weaponry, the release of all prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to devastated cities in eastern Ukraine.