The Ukrainian government and the separatists exchanged accusations of escalation in the east of the country, while a Russian official called on Kiev to return to settlement, amid tensions sparked by attacks and Western reports about Russian military build-up on the borders of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that one of its soldiers was killed yesterday, Saturday, by a landmine explosion near the town of Shumi, 30 km north of Donetsk, which has been controlled by the pro-Russian separatists for years.
The ministry added, in a statement, that 6 violations of the ceasefire agreement were recorded by the pro-Russian forces.
On the other hand, the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk said that the Ukrainian army violated the ceasefire on Saturday evening by bombing a military position belonging to them.
At the end of last March, 4 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in shelling near the town of Shumi, where the contact lines are located between the two sides.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian forces bombed on Friday 20 defensive positions of the Ukrainian army in the "Donbas" region in the east of the country, noting that the bombing resulted in the injury of two soldiers.
While the ministry spoke of "the official initiation of the war," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that "his country's army is capable of repelling any attack."
On the other hand, Russia said that its forces were moving within its borders, and warned Kiev and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against any attempt to take back Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Russian statements
In Moscow, the head of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, called on Ukraine on Sunday to stop what he described as the hostilities in the Donbas region, and to return to a settlement through the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Volodin said that the Ukrainian leadership's speech increased tension and exacerbated the conflict, making the situation fraught with danger, as he put it.
The Russian official accused Kiev of trying to intimidate the residents of the Donbas region, and increasing tension through these actions.
Before that, the Kremlin said that "Russia does not threaten anyone," and blamed the exacerbation of the situation in eastern Ukraine on what it called "repeated provocations" by the Ukrainian army.
On Friday, the Russian army announced military exercises designed to simulate defense against a drone attack in an area near Ukraine.
On the other hand, Ukraine announced that its armed forces would conduct joint military exercises with a thousand soldiers from 5 NATO member states within months, without specifying a date for that.
Amid the escalation of attacks and clashes since last January after a months-long truce, and Russian military moves near the border, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called his US counterpart, Joe Biden, and confirmed that the latter promised not to leave Ukraine alone in the face of what he called Russian aggression.
It is noteworthy that the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014, and has since killed 14,000 people, according to official data announced by Kiev.