RFE/RL has recorded dramatic evidence of the cease-fire in Ukraine being violated, with pro-government forces coming under sustained shelling in the village of Shyrokyne. The attack, filmed on May 24, resulted in one Ukrainian soldier dying and another being wounded. Ukrainian military officials said Russian-backed separatists were using weapons of 120-150 mm caliber, which should have been withdrawn 50 kilometers from the front line under the terms of the February cease-fire agreement, although this could not be independently confirmed. There have been frequent reports of shelling at Shyrokyne, near the strategic port of Mariupol, since the cease-fire was agreed. OSCE observers have also recorded heavy shelling there. (Levko Stek, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
NATO: Ukraine Still Facing 'Continual Attacks' On Its Territory
A top NATO commander warned on May 27 that "continual attacks" against Ukraine were impeding Kyiv's efforts to modernize its army enough to one day join the Western military alliance.
NATO's political affairs and security chief Thrasyvoulos Terry Stamatopoulos told a defense meeting in Kyiv on May 27, "We are well aware of the formidable challenges that Ukraine is facing."
"It's not easy to launch wide-ranging reforms while managing a major conflict and deterring continual attacks against your territorial integrity," he said in reference to the West's repeated accusation of Russia being behind Ukraine's separatist war -- a charge Moscow denies.
Meanwhile, a Kyiv military spokesman said one Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and eight other have been wounded in attacks by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine despite a cease-fire brokered in February in Minsk.
Military spokesman Oleksander Motuzyanyk said at a briefing that separatists were keeping up regular attacks on government forces outside the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk and in the southeast near the strategic port city of Mariupol.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
