Renewed fighting in Ukraine 'catastrophic' says UN

Government and rebel representatives reported the latest deaths in locations across the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukraine's army also said five soldiers had died fighting pro-Russian rebels near the strategic town of Debaltseve.

Civilian casualties have risen sharply in recent weeks amid a rebel offensive.

The latest deaths were in the city of Donetsk, Debaltseve and several villages under government control in the Luhansk region. The exact numbers could not be independently confirmed.

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said there had been a "clear breach of international humanitarian law which governs the conduct of armed conflicts".

"Bus stops and public transport, marketplaces, schools and kindergartens, hospitals and residential areas have become battlegrounds in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine," he said in a statement.

"Any further escalation will prove catastrophic for the 5.2 million people living in the midst of conflict in eastern Ukraine," he added.

According to the UN, the death toll now exceeds 5,350 people and more than 12,000 other people have been wounded in the fighting.

 

(BBC)