Clashes resumed in eastern Ukraine after 42 days of truce

Ukrainian soldier on duty not far from the village of Zolote, February 14, 2020. REUTERS / Oleksandr Klymenko

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The guns are heard again in eastern Ukraine.

After a 42-day ceasefire, the longest since the conflict began in 2014, clashes resulted in the death of a Ukrainian soldier on Sunday.

The belligerents are blaming themselves for the escalation, which confirms that the war is far from over.

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With our correspondent in Kiev

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A grenade launcher, a few bursts of Kalashnikovs, one dead and one wounded.

The skirmish sounded the death knell for a truce in effect since July 27.

Sunday, September 6 was particularly trying for the Ukrainian armed forces: two other soldiers were killed in an accidental explosion along the front line.

Two more were injured.

The record on the side of pro-Russian and Russian separatist forces is uncertain, but the leader of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk, Denys Pouchiline, has promised retaliation.

Zelensky under pressure

Each camp denounces a provocation of the other.

In Kiev, the Minister of Foreign Affairs immediately contacted his Russian counterpart to resolve the situation.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is playing big with this outbreak of violence.

He has made the return of peace a priority of his mandate.

In an increasingly tense regional geopolitical context, this time around the political crisis in Belarus, the attack reminds us that the Donbass at war remains both an open wound for Ukraine, and a bomb ready to explode.

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• Ukraine

• Volodymyr Zelensky

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