Five Ukrainian security forces were killed and 22 wounded in fighting with pro-Russian separatists after a ceasefire between the two sides went into effect at midnight Saturday, a Ukrainian army spokesman told CNN Monday.
Mortar fire has been coming into the Mariupol area, said Dmyto Chalov, spokesman for a sector of the Ukrainian army.
The ceasefire went into effect more than 24 hours earlier, at midnight Saturday night.
The Ukrainian Army still has plans to pull heavy weapons out of the area, but it won’t happen until the situation is quiet, Chalov said.
The ceasefire aims to end 10 months of violence in eastern Ukraine. But less than 90 minutes after it started, Ukrainian officials reported mortar shelling at a military post near Zolote in the Luhansk region.
The peace agreement signed in Minsk, Belarus, comes with questions over how it will be implemented and whether it will stick. Mistrust is high on both sides, adding to the doubts.