One Ukrainian serviceman was killed and five wounded in clashes between government forces and Russian-backed separatists over the past 24 hours despite a ceasefire, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said yesterday.

Violence has lessened significantly in Ukraine's east since the ceasefire was brokered in Minsk, Belarus, in mid-February, but both sides accuse the other of violations and casualties are reported almost daily. The situation was most tense near the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, where separatists were using heavy weapons banned under the ceasefire, Lysenko said. "Pro-Russian illegal groups are firing heavily there," he said.