Fighting eases, ceasefire not in effect

KYIV – Ukraine’s military says violations by Russian-backed separatists of a newly signed ceasefire deal are continuing, but have been decreasing in recent days. A Ukrainian military spokesman said on February 25 that separatists shelled the village of Popasna overnight and continued trying to overrun Ukrainian positions at the village of Shyrokyne, near the strategic Azov Sea coastal city of Mariupol. A February 12 deal brokered by the leaders of France and Germany required both sides to cease fire and subsequently pull heavy weapons back from a separation line, but Ukraine has said it will not begin the pullback until the rebels stop launching attacks. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said: “For now there is still no order on the withdrawal of weapons, as the fighters have not yet fulfilled the first point of the Minsk agreement: to cease fire.” Separatists said on February 24 that they were beginning to pull back heavy weapons. But monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said they could not yet verify the withdrawal because the sides have not confirmed how many guns were in place before the ceasefire was meant to take effect. Kyiv has expressed concerns the separatists, who seized the town of Debaltseve four days after the ceasefire was meant to go into effect on February 15, were merely redeploying their weaponry near Mariupol, the largest government-held city in the Donetsk Oblast. (RFE/RL, with reporting by news services)