Kyiv accuses separatists of firing near strategic port city.

Ukraine accused separatists yesterday of using artillery and tanks to shell government army positions near the strategic port city of Mariupol in the east.

Multiple rocket launcher systems of the Ukrainian army are moved near Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on March 6. Photo: Reuters.

Separatists fired on Ukrainian positions and demanded "our troops leave Shirkyne," a coastal village on the Azov Sea about 10 km east of Mariupol, AFP reported, citing a Facebook post from the eastern military's operational headquarters.

Four Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the most recent clashes, said Oleg Sushinky, a spokesman for the Ukrainian army. "The rebels began blatantly violating the Minsk agreement at 10 a.m. (8 a.m. GMT), using 120 mm artillery and tanks to attack the Ukrainian side."

The information has not yet been verified. If accurate, this would be a violation of the peace agreement reached on February 12 in Minsk, Belarus. Mariupol, a steel-producing city with a population of half a million, is the largest urban center in the conflict zone still under Kyiv's control.

According to the Minsk agreement, Kyiv and the separatists must withdraw artillery, missiles, and other heavy weapons from the front line. Eduard Basurin, the defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), said the separatists did not carry out any attacks, RIA Novosti reported.

Location of Shirkyne village. Graphic: BBC.

A spokesman for the Azov volunteer battalion, which fights alongside Ukrainian troops in Mariupol, said that Shirkyne has become the scene of sporadic clashes in recent days.

International monitors trying to track the withdrawal of heavy weapons have repeatedly complained that the separatists are not allowing them access to areas far from the center of Mariupol.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in a televised address that day, said 64 soldiers had been killed since the ceasefire began on February 15. He also confirmed that the separatists had withdrawn a large number of weapons from the front lines.

"Whether or not there is a ceasefire depends on your perspective. Ukraine has withdrawn most of its missile systems and heavy artillery. The separatists have also withdrawn a significant amount of weapons," Reuters quoted Poroshenko as saying.

According to VnExpress