Five Ukrainian servicemen have been killed since a ceasefire between government forces and independence-seeking insurgents came into effect Friday, a military official said Tuesday.
Besides the fatalities, at least 33 other Ukrainian servicemen were wounded, said Andrei Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, adding that the insurgents in the eastern regions of the country have violated the truce deal with 89 attacks.
Under the framework of the ceasefire protocol, inked in Minsk, the insurgents have handed over 648 prisoners of war to the Ukrainian forces, while 500 government troops still remain in captivity, Xinhua cited Lysenko as saying.
Meanwhile, Donetsk's municipal council said that heavy shelling resumed overnight in the city, leaving a woman injured by shrapnel and several houses and a specialised boarding school damaged.
At least 3,000 people have been killed since fierce fighting between government troops and insurgents began in mid-April, and the Minsk deal is expected to pave the way for a political solution to the crisis and a permanent end to the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine.
