The heaviest fighting in a series of truce violations in Ukraine’s restive east strained the tenuous 10-day-old cease-fire between the Kiev government and pro-Russian separatists, with both sides blaming the other on Monday for attacks that included the shelling of residential buildings.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko on Monday accused the rebels of attacking checkpoints and other positions in the east in intensified fighting over the weekend. The Ukrainian military, he said, was forced to respond.
“The attacks of Russian mercenaries have become more active to provoke our units to retreat from their positions, but these actions are under control,” he said.