KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed on Saturday and four others injured in a bombardment by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army said, while rebels called for the general mobilization.
On its Facebook page, the Ukrainian army says it has recorded, since the beginning of the day, 70 violations of the ceasefire agreement by the separatists, against 66 in the last 24 hours.
The two sides accuse each other of violations of the ceasefire signed in 2015 under the terms of the Minsk agreements, supposed to resolve the conflict in the Donbass.
The Western camp believes that this long-standing conflict could serve as a pretext for Russia to invade Ukraine.
Pro-Russian rebels fired heavy artillery at around 30 localities, the Ukrainian army said.
Pro-Russian separatists claim on Telegram to have responded to shelling by government troops.
Separatist leaders backed by Moscow called for general mobilization on Saturday after deciding the day before to evacuate civilians from the secessionist regions they rule to Russia because, they say, of the threat of conflict.
In a video message, Denis Pushilin, leader of the self-proclaimed “people’s republic” of Donetsk, said he signed a mobilization decree and called on men “able to hold a weapon” to go to military police stations.
Leonid Pasechnik, another separatist leader, signed a similar decree for the “Luhansk People’s Republic”.
Pro-Russian separatists announced Friday their intention to evacuate around 700,000 people, citing an imminent attack by Ukrainian forces, accusations that Kiev denies.
By Saturday morning, fewer than 7,000 people had been evacuated from Donetsk, according to the local emergency ministry.
(Report Natalia Zinets and Maria Kiselyova; French version Claude Chendjou and Sophie Louet)