Civilians killed in Ukrainian fighting

Ceasefire under threat as Independence Day imminent

Fighting flared between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine overnight, killing at least two Ukrainian soldiers and several civilians, Kiev’s military and separatist sources said yesterday.

The clashes, near Mariupol in the south-east and at rebel-held Horlivka, further frayed an increasingly tenuous ceasefire as Ukraine prepared to mark its Independence Day next week.