When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire? That remains the question Ukraine has been asking itself since February, when an agreement calling for a truce was signed by Ukraine, Russia, pro-Russian separatists, France and Germany in Minsk, Belarus. That seemed to calm tensions but it certainly did not stop violence along Ukraine’s front lines with the breakaway separatists in the east.
CNN looked at a 24-hour window in the conflict, three months after the call for ceasefire, a day in which U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry went to Sochi to meet — for the first time since the Ukraine crisis began — with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They spoke about Syria and Iran, but also Ukraine.
This is a log of what else we know happened that day, from observers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and residents. It is likely incomplete. May 12, 2015 was not the worst day of violence, it was not the quietest day. It was just a day in Ukraine’s “ceasefire.”
8:08 a.m. to 9:10 a.m.
3 outgoing mortar explosions from government-controlled Berdianske.
8:57 a.m.
4 bursts northwest of Toshkivka, in government-controlled territory.
12:03 p.m.
2 mortar explosions in Donetsk, held by the pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
12:45 p.m. to 1:45p.m.
50 explosions from artillery incoming to the southeast of government-controlled Luhansk.
12:53 p.m. to 12:59 p.m.
7 explosions west of the Donetsk Railway Station.
1:05 p.m.
Loud outgoing noise heard by locals at the Hotel Europa in Donetsk.
1:30 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
67 explosions and sporadic bursts from mortars, automatic grenade launchers, small arms and heavy machine guns, west and north of the Donetsk Railway station. Both incoming and outgoing.
2:30 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.
32 explosions and sporadic bursts from mortar and small arms, incoming, north of Donetsk.
2:45 p.m.to 3:10 p.m.
9 mortar explosions in Semyhirya, an area controlled by the government.
2:50 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
101 explosions and bursts, incoming and outgoing, ranging from heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft fire to small arms and light weapons from the west around to the northeast of Donetsk.
2:56 p.m. to 3:06p.m.
3 artillery explosions south of Donetsk city center.
3:14 p.m.
Loud outgoing noise reported by locals, in central Donetsk.
3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Incoming and outgoing tank and small arms fire in and to the north of Berdianske.
6 p.m.
6 outgoing mortars reported by locals in Donetsk.
7:40 p.m.
Four buildings hit in villages southwest of Donetsk, residents report.
8:11 p.m.
Shelling from DPR territory to Maryinka, in government-held Ukraine. Some injuries and main road blocked, residents say.
8:21 p.m.
Shelling from both sides reported by residents around Spartak, north of Donetsk.
8:26 p.m.
Loud explosions reported by locals north of Donetsk.
9:20 p.m.
Fighting reported in Maryinka.
9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
More than 20 explosions and bursts from small arms and light weapons in the Kirovskyi district of Donetsk, controlled by the DPR.