Fighting continues in Ukraine ahead of ceasefire

(Vatican Radio) At least 26 people, including at least nearly a dozen Ukrainian soldiers, are believed to have been killed over the past 24 hours in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists have launched a massive offensive ahead of a weekend ceasefire deadline. Regional correspondent Stefan Bos reports that Ukraine's leadership has already raised doubts whether the ceasefire deal will actually take effect as planned. 

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

On paper the guns will fall silent and heavy weapons will pull back from the front while Ukraine will trade a broad autonomy for the east to get back control of its Russian border by the end of this year. 

But on the ground there were no signs a peace deal hammered out Thursday in all-night negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany will be implemented any time soon.

 

Shelling continued ahead of a deadline for the warring sides to halt fighting. The fiercest confrontations focused on the government-held town of Debaltseve, a key transport hub between rebel-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk. 

ROCKET ATTACKS

It has been on the receiving end of dozens of artillery and rocket attacks since the peace agreement was sealed in Minsk, Belarus, on Thursday. 

The Ukrainian military said at least 11 Ukrainian soldiers were among those killed and dozens were injured across Ukraine following the talks, while more than a dozen civilians died in both rebel and government held territories. 

Shells even landed in the government-controlled town of Artemivsk, some 40 kilometers or 25 miles behind the front line where reporters saw the body of a child killed after a rocket fire hit a kindergarten there. 

Another civilian was also reported dead.           

POROSHENKO DOUBTS

The latest bloodshed has prompted Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to raise doubts whether the ceasefire deal agreed in the Belarus capital on Thursday will actually take effect.

“I don’t want anyone to have any illusions and I don’t want to look like a naive person," he said while visiting a national guard training base. "We still have a long way to go before we reach peace. And there is no firm conviction that the agreement signed in Minsk will be fully implemented.” 

The West and Kiev have accused Russia of supplying the separatists with weapons and troops, charges Moscow denies. And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow hopes that the peace agreement "which is supported at the highest level" will be "honoured by all parties". 

With fighting continuing, the leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia were expected to speak by phone later Saturday on how to end a conflict that has killed more than 5,000 people.