According to observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine against the background of the Ukraine crisis.

Accordingly, there was an artillery fire, it was said on Thursday from diplomatic circles, citing the OSCE.

Eastern Ukrainian separatists accused the government troops of violating the current ceasefire.

The army's morning report, on the other hand, only reported isolated violations by the other side.

The Luhansk rebels said that dozens of mortar shells were fired at several locations in the Luhansk region, especially in the morning hours.

Insurgent positions in the Donetsk region were also fired upon.

The rebels returned fire.

Neither side reported any losses in their own ranks.

Independent representations were initially not available.

Lukashenko ready to deploy nuclear weapons

In the past few days, observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) had found fewer violations of the ceasefire than in the previous year.

On the other hand, according to the Interfax agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow that Kiev had increased its "provocative actions" in the past few days.

"It's a very, very dangerous situation," said Peskow.

In the West, only Russia's attack potential is discussed, not Ukraine's.

Since 2014, Western-backed government troops have been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, not far from the Russian border.

According to United Nations estimates, more than 14,000 people have already been killed, mostly in the separatist area.

A peace plan from 2015 is not implemented.

According to its head of state Alexandr Lukashenko, Belarus is ready to station nuclear weapons in the event of a threat from the West.

"If necessary," his country will not only adopt nuclear weapons, "but also super-nuclear weapons, promising weapons" to "defend our territory," Lukashenko said on Thursday, according to the Belarusian news agency Belta.

Minsk and Moscow started joint military exercises in Belarus last week, which are expected to last until February 20.

"The New Normal"

Russia reiterated that it had withdrawn more soldiers from annexed Crimea.

Meanwhile, NATO still sees no credible indications of a withdrawal from the border area.

"There are signals from Moscow that diplomacy may continue, but so far we have seen no signs of retreat or de-escalation," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the start of the second day of deliberations of allied defense ministers in Brussels.

Russia has recently once again demonstrated its ability and willingness to use force to achieve its goals.

"Unfortunately, I fear this is the new normal that we need to be prepared for," Stoltenberg said.

The US government also classifies the partial withdrawal of Russian troops announced by Moscow to ease the Ukraine conflict as false information and instead assumes a further expansion of the military presence.

In "the past few days," Russia has brought about 7,000 additional troops near the Ukrainian border, "and some of them just arrived today," a senior White House official said Wednesday night.

US government findings, meanwhile, showed that Russia's announcement of a partial withdrawal was "wrong," he said.