Tens of thousands of people have marched in Moscow to protest against Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict. People carrying Russian and Ukrainian flags chanted “No to war!” and “Stop lying!” Similar rallies took place in St Petersburg and other Russian cities.
Moscow police said there were about 5,000 protesters but a reporter for the AP news agency estimated that the crowd was at least 20,000-strong.
More than 3,000 people have died in fighting since April. A truce was agreed on 5 September but there have been repeated violations since then. Meanwhile, Ukraine accuses Russia of arming rebels in the east and sending Russian troops across the border. Moscow denies it.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said violations of the ceasefire continued, telling reporters: “In the last 24 hours we have lost two Ukrainian soldiers, eight have been wounded.”
In Ukraine, fighting was reported to be continuing on Sunday close to the city of Donetsk despite an agreement on Friday to set up a 30km (19 miles) buffer zone as part of the Minsk memorandum.
The government in Kiev said its military forces would not pull back until pro-Russian forces stop firing and Russian troops leave. Russia denies that its forces are involved.
OK, Fine. 