A Ukrainian soldier was killed in fighting with pro-Russian separatists in the east, the army said Tuesday, its first fatality in nearly a week as shelling rumbled on despite a ceasefire deal.
“In the past 24 hours, one Ukrainian soldier was killed and another one wounded” in the village of Pisky near the bombed-out airport of separatist stronghold Donetsk, army spokesman Andriy Lysenko told a news conference.
It was the first combat death recorded among the Ukrainian forces since April 15, when the army said one soldier was killed. Another six had been killed and 12 injured the day before that.
On Tuesday Lysenko said “the situation is stable but tense” overall.
European OSCE observers reported ongoing heavy arms fire by both sides over recent weeks despite a February ceasefire agreement.
Lysenko said the pro-Russian forces had fired at Ukrainian pro-government positions with tanks and 120-millimetre mortars, types of heavy arms banned under the February ceasefire agreement.
With spring arriving, the observers hope a fresh surge in fighting can be avoided while a solution is sought to the deadly conflict — particularly in the village of Shyrokyne, near the strategic government-held city of Mariupol.
The Ukrainians military’s press department said on Tuesday that Shyrokyne had been targeted by tank fire in recent hours.
The OSCE said Monday the Ukrainian military had drawn up proposals for a withdrawal of forces on both sides from Shyrokyne, where it says the few dozen civilians who have not fled lack food and water.
The plan has yet to be approved by Kiev and separatist leaders.
The United Nations says more than 6,100 people have been killed in the conflict in Ukraine over the past year.
Kiev and the West say there is widespread evidence that Russia is arming and sending fighters to help the separatists, who have taken control of parts of the east — a charge Russia denies.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday met in Geneva on Tuesday with Red Cross chief Peter Maurer, a spokesman for the organisation said.
Maurer called on Poroshenko to ease customs formalities on the Ukrainian border to allow more aid trucks to enter, the spokesman said.
Since January, the Red Cross has delivered more than 3,000 tonnes of emergency supplies to the rebel-held eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk and given aid to more than 167,000 people on both sides of the frontline.
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