[CYPRUS TIMES] Ukraine accused of new ceasefire violations

The warring sides in eastern Ukraine today accused each other of new violations of the ceasefire agreement, while the US and NATO continue to warn that there are growing signs that Russia is preparing to attack its neighbour.

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Pro-Russian separatists in the Lugansk and Daniyetsk regions said villages and the city of Daniyetsk were shelled by government artillery repeatedly.

For its part, the Ukrainian military said there were several ceasefire violations by the separatists overnight. Neither one side's nor the other's information could be confirmed by independent sources.

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In Lugansk, the spokesman for the popular militias of the self-declared People's Republic, Ivan Filipponenko, said armed forces had tried to seize pro-Russian positions by ambush. "Around 05:00 (local and Cyprus time) () troops of the 79th airborne brigade attacked positions of the people's militia in the area of the Pionerskoye commune," but "suffered losses and withdrew," according to the spokesman.

The assault resulted in the destruction of five buildings and civilian casualties, the spokesman added, without giving a clearer account.

The escalation of hostilities comes on the heels of a new warning by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that there are growing signs that Russia is preparing to attack Ukraine. Not only are "troops not being withdrawn, as Russia says, on the contrary, more are being added" in the area of the Russian-Ukrainian border, according to the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Source: CNA

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