OSCE concerned about fighting in Ukraine ahead of ceasefire

(Vatican Radio) The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europa has expressed concern about increased fighting in eastern Ukraine ahead of a ceasefire Sunday.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report: 

Ukraine's military said Friday at least 11 soldiers were killed and another 40 wounded over the previous day, while regional authorities loyal to Kiev reported six civilian deaths in areas under their control. Pro-Russian rebels announced that seven people were killed in artillery strikes on rebel held cities Luhansk and Horlivka. 

Explosions rocking eastern Ukraine underscored that fighting increased a day after French, German, Russian and Ukrainian leaders agreed on a peace plan, far away in Minsk. 

Yet pro-Russian separatists want to capture more territory including Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub between the rebel held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. 

That worries Lamberto Zannier, the busy secretary general of Europe's security organization OSCE. "We should really make sure, that the fighting stops, they will go beyond the heavy weapons – we need to work now on the heavy weapons, on releasing of the prisoners. These will be concrete moves towards de-escalation,” he told Euronews television.

Warring sides

Zannier has urged all sides to respect the deadline for the warring sides to halt the fighting on Sunday, at one minute after midnight, local time. “We really expect these hostilities to terminate by the deadline that was set in Minsk,” he told reporters in Kiev. 

A ceasefire would perhaps allow Christians to rebuild damaged buildings. Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant leaders say dozens of churches have destroyed, damaged and occupied in fighting between the pro-Russian rebels and government forces. 

Families on all sides also hope to see their loved ones following the ceasefire when an exchange of prisoners is expected. 

However Russian investigators warned Friday that they see no grounds to release Ukrainian air force pilot Nadezhda Savchenko who has been charged with killing two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. 

Savchenko, who denies wrongdoing, has been on hunger strike for more than two months.