An already fragile international accord on Ukraine has been shaken by a deadly gunfight near a city controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
At least three people were killed in the gunfight near Slaviansk - already a flashpoint for tensions between Ukraine's rival camps. Police in Kiev said three men among the separatists were killed and three wounded.
Pro-Russian groups are occupying regional government buildings in Donetsk. Photo: AFP
Meanwhile, Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday approved legal amendments to make it simpler for Russian speakers to acquire Russian citizenship. The changes follow its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and tension in the largely Russian-speaking east of Ukraine.
Separatists said armed men from Ukraine's Right Sector nationalist group had attacked them on Sunday, while the Right Sector denied any role, saying Russian special forces were behind the clash.
The deaths were the first in armed clashes in eastern Ukraine since the Geneva accord was signed on Thursday by the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. The parties agreed that illegal armed groups would go home in a process to be overseen by Europe's OSCE security watchdog.
However, the shooting incident triggered a war of words between Moscow and Ukraine's western-backed government with each questioning the other's compliance with the agreement.
So far, the pro-Russian militants have shown little sign of budging from public buildings in the east, though there was some hope of progress after Kiev said it would not move against the separatists over Easter.
"The Easter truce has been violated," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement after the Slavianks shooting. "This provocation ... testifies to the lack of will on the part of the Kiev authorities to rein in and disarm nationalists and extremists."
Ukraine's SBU security service accused Moscow agents of faking a "cynical provocation" at Slaviansk and the foreign ministry hit back, reproaching Russia for rushing to judgement and failing to meet its part of the deal struck in Geneva.
Slaviansk's self-appointed pro-Russia mayor placed a curfew on the town and appealed directly to Russia's Vladimir Putin to consider sending in peacekeeping troops - an outcome Ukraine tried to avoid by holding back its poorly resourced forces.
