Ukrainian officials say Russia-backed separatists violated a troubled cease-fire a dozen times during the night with artillery and rocket attacks and an attempt to storm a Ukrainian encampment.
Explosions were heard in the main rebel-held city Donetsk around dawn on Sunday and a rebel website says several buildings in the city were damaged by artillery. Despite the reported violations, the level of firing appeared to be far lower than a week ago when a cease-fire was called. Among the attacks reported by the Ukrainian military was an attempt to storm positions in the village of Shyrokyne near the port city of Mariupol.
Blast in Kharkiv march: 2 killed, 8 hurt
Kiev: Two people were killed and about eight others injured in a bomb explosion at a march on Sunday in Ukraine's second-largest city that was commemorating the first anniversary of the ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych, the country's interior ministry said. The Interior Ministry said the blast was due to an "unknown explosive device" and was being considered a terrorist act. The violence comes as Ukraine continues to be riven by tension and bloodshed stemming from Yanukovych's fall a year ago. The Ukrainian parliament voted Feb. 22, 2014 to remove the Russia-friendly president, following months of increasingly violent protests in the capital, Kiev.