Shaky Ceasefire: Kiev Forces Mount Last-Gasp Fight as Truce Deadline Nears

As the February 15 deadline for ending all hostilities nears, artillery rocket and small arms fire continues in parts of Ukraine’s war-ravaged eastern Donbas region.

With the truce deadline agreed in Minsk on Thursday now just a few hours away, Ukrainian forces continued to lob rockets and shells at the positions held by independence supporters in a last-minute grab for territory.

Four people were killed and 12 were injured Saturday when Ukrainian artillery opened up on areas in and around Donetsk,  with witnesses reporting eleven barrages registered overnight from multiple rocket launchers, artillery and mortars targeting the Donetsk airport.

The city’s residential areas also came under heavy artillery fire during the night.

“Four people were killed overnight, three in Donetsk and one in Horlivka. 12 were injured,” the deputy commander of the local militia, Eduard Basurin, told reporters, adding that enemy fire had intensified in the morning hours.

In the southern city of Mariupol, meanwhile, the local authorities said the sound of heavy artillery exchanges was heard some 20 kilometers away, but the city itself remained secured by Ukrainian forces.

With the hard-won Minsk accords apparently having failed to dampen the Kiev military’s resolve to gain as much ground as possible before the midnight ceasefire deadline, one can only hope that reason will eventually prevail and the guns will finally fall silent…