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The fighter, who provided only the nom de guerre Khokhol, freely acknowledged that the ceasefire was not being respected by either side.

“There was mortar shelling around 20 minutes ago here in Spartak,” he said. “There is no ceasefire for anyone.”

The truce signed on Friday appeared to be holding for much of the following day, but was shattered late Saturday by shelling on the outskirts of the southeastern port town of Mariupol, where Ukrainian troops retain defensive lines against the rebels. The city council said Sunday that one civilian was killed there and a serviceman wounded.

The volunteer pro-government Azov Battalion said on Facebook that their positions were also hit by Grad rockets, but did not give details.

Mariupol is located on the coast of the Sea of Azov, 115 kilometres south of Donetsk. Rebels recently opened a new front on the coast, leading to fears that they were trying to secure a land corridor between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in March.

Amnesty International on Sunday condemned all those engaged in the grinding conflict that according to U.N. estimates has claimed at least 2,600 civilian lives and forced hundreds of thousands out of their homes.

“All sides in this conflict have shown disregard for civilian lives and are blatantly violating their international obligations,” Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty said in a statement.

Blasts powerful enough to be heard in downtown Donetsk could be heard coming from the direction of the airport early Sunday morning. The terminal, which has now been rendered little more than a burned-out husk, has been under the control of government troops since May and has come under unremitting attacks from Russian-backed separatist forces since then.