DONETSK/KIEV, — Ukrainian troops shelled cities in southeastern Ukraine 27 times in the past 24 hours despite a ceasefire and artillery pullout agreed upon last week, a Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) deputy militia head said Monday.
"There were 27 violations in the past 24 hours, including shelling of Dokuchaievsk, Horlivka and Donetsk suburbs," DPR's Eduard Basurin said at a press briefing.
Both sides in the armed conflict have accused each other of launching mortar attacks after a ceasefire came into force on Saturday night in eastern Ukraine. The truce also stipulates a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the region and the creation of a security zone there.
Members of the Ukrainian armed forces ride on a military vehicle near Artemivsk, eastern Ukraine February 14, 2015
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Monday continued to rally fresh troops in Ukraine's westernmost Lviv Region. It is now training "more than 4,000 Ukrainian warriors" that were called up last year, the ministry said in a statement.
In January, Kiev said it plans to have three waves of mobilizations in 2015. The first wave was launched on January 20 and will last for 90 days. The other two rounds are due to begin in April and June. The government says the plan is to replace troops involved in what Kiev calls an "anti-terrorist operation" in eastern Ukraine.
Hostilities in Ukraine's southeast continue against the backdrop of a much-anticipated ceasefire agreed on Thursday in Belarus. The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany negotiated for 16 hours on the implementation of an earlier Minsk deal, which was reached in Belarus on September 19.
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