Conflicting sides take up hardline rhetoric hours before Ukraine ceasefire

As bloodshed continued in eastern Ukraine on Saturday ahead of a midnight ceasefire, the conflicting sides accused each other of opening fire and took up hardline rhetoric.

Earlier reports showed that at least three civilians have been killed and a dozen wounded in blast in the center of Donetsk, just as the deadline for a ceasefire creeps closer.

The Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said at a daily televised briefing in Kiev that seven Ukrainian service personnel have been killed and 23 others wounded in fighting against independence-seeking insurgents over the past 24 hours.

Head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, on Saturday issued a decree, ordering his forces to cease fire according to a package of peace measures adopted on Thursday in Minsk, capital of Belarus.

Negotiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, the peace deal envisages a ceasefire from Feb. 15 and withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline, and also covers election timelines, border control and prisoner exchange.

Poroshenko on Satursday expressed hope that all parties of the Minsk agreements would back the provisions by actual actions, urging the insurgents to stop shooting as they continue to attack military positions of government forces.

Moreover, Poroshenko warned that martial law will be introduced all over Ukraine in case that the ceasefire fails in the eastern Ukrainian Donbass region.

The parliament would immediately consider introduction of martial law "which would allow (the military forces) to mobilize, to unite and defend our land more strictly and efficiently," Poroshenko warned in a statement.

Tass news agency quoted a senior official of the Lugansk People 's Republic (LPR) as reporting that LPR has begun withdrawing heavy weapons from the engagement line, as soldiers remain in their positions.

Earlier in the day, rebel leader Andrei Purgin said that a working group for the implementation of Minsk agreements would be formed later on Saturday with the participation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed Moscow's willingness to facilitate implementation of the Minsk agreements, urging the " parties of the Ukrainian conflict to implement their obligations strictly."

However, the ministry expressed worries that "radical nationalists in Ukrainian parliament" have gained enough support and "began to distort content Minsk arrangements," which is totally opposite to the insurgents' "responsible attitude" towards the implementation of their obligations.

Although with "responsible attitude," DPR's Zakharchenko insisted earlier that "we are ceasing fire everywhere except for the inner regions of DPR. Any attempt of (Kiev government soldiers) to leave the Debaltsevo encirclement will be stopped," according to RIA Novosti.

Debaltsevo, a small railway hub lying between the two rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Lugansk, has become one of the main flashpoints of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, as some 8,000 Ukrainian troops had reportedly been encircled by insurgents' militia in Debaltsevo, a claim denied by Kiev.

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