Kiev says situation in eastern Ukraine 'stabilising'

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said here on Friday that tensions between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents in eastern Ukraine have eased.

"The situation is gradually stabilising. In the past day we recorded no use of artillery or armoured vehicles," Xinhua news agency quoted Lysenko as telling the press.

There had been "provocations" from the rebel side, but no major clashes, the spokesman said, adding that one Ukrainian soldier was wounded in the attacks.

The press service of the insurgent army reported no rebel casualties on the front, but said that Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire 34 times in the past day.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian interior ministry said in a statement that a civilian in his early 40s was killed during a shelling in Shyrokyno village near the port city of Mariupol. It was not immediately clear which side was responsible for the shelling.

The reduction in fighting in eastern Ukraine came after a ceasefire deal was reached on February 12 in Minsk, capital of Belarus, under which the warring sides agreed to halt hostilities and withdraw their heavy weapons from the front lines.