Here's an AFP English translation of the 12-point protocol signed by the Ukraine Contact Group in Minsk on September 5:
1. Ensure an immediate bilateral ceasefire.
2. Ensure monitoring and verification by the OSCE of the ceasefire regime.
3. Carry out decentralisation of power, allowing temporary local self-government in areas of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine under a "special status" law.
4. Ensure constant active monitoring by the OSCE of the Ukraine-Russia border, along with the creation of a security zone in border areas.
5. Immediately free all prisoners and illegally detained persons.
6. Pass a law against the prosecution and punishment of people over certain events in Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
7. Continue inclusive national dialogue.
8. Take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in the Donbass (Donetsk and Lugansk).
9. Ensure the holding of snap local elections in Donetsk and Lugansk.
10. Remove illegal armed groups, military hardware, and all fighters and mercenaries from Ukrainian territory.
11. Adopt a programme to help the economic revival of the Donbass and restore activity in the region.
12. Guarantee the personal safety of the participants of the consultations.
The plan was signed by OSCE envoy Heidi Tagliavini, former Ukraine president Leonid Kuchma, the Russian ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, and rebel leaders Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky.
Local officials are quoted by AFP as confirming that a woman has been killed in the fighting in Mariupol, confirming the UNIAN report/image cited in that Liveuamap report (tweet below).
Two Ukrainian privates were released yesterday as part of a hostage-release deal, Interfax reports, quoting an aide to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
The release of Ukrainian servicemen is one of the terms set out by Kyiv during the talks in Minsk to establish a peace process.
Donetsk airport has been problematic since the cease-fire got under way, with Kyiv accusing rebels of multiple attacks overnight on Friday-Saturday. Now, it appears, fresh fighting has erupted there:
STEADY SHELLING HEARD NEAR DONETSK AIRPORT IN EASTERN UKRAINE, PLUMES OF BLACK SMOKE SEEN RISING IN AREA - REUTERS WITNESS
Here's our newsroom wrap-up of events overnight:
Explosions and artillery fire have been reported outside the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol despite a day-old cease-fire between Kyiv and pro-Russia rebels.
Witnesses in Mariupol told AP by telephone that heavy explosions were coming from the city's eastern outskirts, where Ukrainian troops retain defensive lines against the rebels.
The volunteer, pro-Kyiv Azov Battalion said on Facebook that its positions were hit overnight by Grad rockets but did not give details.
Mariupol is a port city of about half a million people on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Rebels recently opened a new front on the coast, leading to fears that the separatists were trying to secure a land corridor between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in March.
Earlier, the presidents of Ukraine and Russia said the cease-fire was mostly holding, but the truce still appeared fragile as both sides of the conflict claimed violations.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed steps "for giving the cease-fire a stable character" in a telephone conversation on September 6.
The Kremlin said both leaders expressed satisfaction "with the fact that the sides of the conflict were overall observing the cease-fire regime."
Colonel Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's national security council, said rebels had fired at Ukrainian forces on 10 occasions after the cease-fire took effect.
A top rebel leader, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, claimed government forces had violated the cease-fire early with two rounds of shelling in the town of Amvrosiivka, about 50 kilometers southeast of Donetsk.
"At this time the cease-fire agreement is not being fully observed," he said. He didn't say when the supposed breach occurred.
Lysenko said Ukrainian forces were strictly observing the cease-fire and suggested that Zakharchenko's claim was a provocation.
Meanwhile, the International Committee for the Red Cross said on its Twitter account that its workers had tried to deliver food aid to the city of Luhansk on September 6 but turned back after shooting northeast of the city.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
That concludes our live blogging for Saturday, September 6. Follow our continuing coverage HERE and HERE.
