Ukraine is accusing Russian-backed rebels of violating the September ceasefire by killing 30 civilians in an attack on the Black Sea port city of Mariupol. The attack came two days after eight civilians were killed when a trolley bus was hit by an artillery shell or mortar in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk. At the United Nations, Rupert Colville warned of the rising death toll.

Rupert Colville: “The significant escalation of hostilities in Ukraine since the 13th of January has taken the total death toll in the country to at least 5,086 individuals, and we fear that the real figure may be considerably higher. At least 10,948 people have also been wounded between mid-April last year and the 21st of January.”