From an AFP report titled "One Month In, Ukraine Truce Exists In Name Only." Read the full report here.
DONETSK -- Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels marked a month since the signing of a Kremlin-backed truce on Sunday by engaging in one of the most heated battles of their six-month war over the ex-Soviet state's eastern rustbelt.
The artillery blasts that rocked the frontline city of Donetsk were yet another blow to the 12-point peace agreement signed on September 5, and which is officially still in force.
"There is no cease-fire. You hear?" 31-year-old resident Yekaterina Manannikova said, pointing in the direction of Donetsk airport, once a glittering showcase for the biggest city in the east, now the battered scene of a nonstop firefight.
"Peace is already declared, how many times should it be declared to be effective? Two, three times?" said another local, Vitaliy Chura, 29, blaming the separatists for the continued fighting.
The agreement -- aimed at ending almost six months of war that has claimed over 3,300 lives -- included a promise to create a 30-kilometer buffer zone between the two forces.
But Ukraine's military says Kyiv will not start pulling back forces until rebels stop firing on its positions, including at the airport.
This video was uploaded to YouTube on October 5 and shows the devastasting firepower of Grad rockets. When these missiles were fired is difficult to determine, but the intensity of the barrage cannot be denied. The soldier at the start of the video is speaking Ukrainian. The Grad barrage starts at 1:25.
Just in from our News Desk:
The U.S. dollar has risen above 40 Russian rubles for the first time ever.
The ruble's worth fell below 40 to the dollar in early trading in Moscow on October 6, RIA Novosti and TASS reported.
The Russian currency has fallen steadily in the last three months amid tightening U.S. and European Union sanctions against Moscow over its role in the conflict in Ukraine.
A dollar bought about 34 rubles in early July, and the official exchange rate on October 4 was just under 39.70 rubles to the dollar.
The ruble rate has been closely watched by since the 1991 Soviet collapse and is seen by many Russians as a sign of the economy's strength or weakness.
News that the ruble's worth fell below 40 to the dollar was greeted with comments by Kremlin foes such as Aleksei Navalny, who noted that a round number would make calculations simple.