DONETSK: Six civilians were killed in fighting in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, the bloodiest day since a ceasefire was signed 10 days ago.
Sustained shelling and artillery fire was reported throughout much of Sunday around Donetsk and its airport, with huge clouds of black smoke billowing into the sky above the city.
"Six civilians perished during the hostilities over the past 24 hours," Donetsk deputy mayor Kostyantyn Savinov said on Monday, while the town hall said another 15 civilians had been injured.
Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said there had also been dead and wounded among military ranks, but said full details would be given later.
Observers from the pan-European security body the OSCE, which brokered the September 5 truce, reported shelling near a market in one district of Donetsk.
"Smoke was coming from one building and a fire brigade was on the scene," the OSCE said in a statement.
It said its observers were told by the rebels that four people had been killed and that the team itself had seen the body of a civilian woman lying on the street.
Donetsk, the biggest rebel-held city in industrial eastern Ukraine, has endured some of the fiercest fighting in the five-month conflict. (AFP)
