Both sides in the conflict over a disputed region of eastern Ukraine reported new ceasefire violations on Sunday, one day after the head of NATO said all signs were pointing to Russia planning to mount a full-scale attack on its neighbour.
Russia-back separatists in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions said that villages had been shelled several times since midnight. The Ukrainian army listed several violations of the ceasefire in the morning. The respective statements could not be independently verified.
The news comes one day after NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said there was evidence suggesting that Russia is planning a full-scale attack on Ukraine.
"No troops are being withdrawn, as Russia says, but new troops are being added," he said, adding that there were also indications that Russia was preparing to create a pretext for an attack.
Despite the fact that Moscow has amassed more than 100,000 troops on its side of the border with Ukraine, it has repeatedly denied any such plan.
According to international observers, the number of ceasefire violations has increased massively in recent days.
In the Luhansk region, 975 violations were recorded, including 860 explosions, according to a statement by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In the Donetsk region, 591 violations were reported, including 535 explosions. These figures referred to activities on Friday.
