FIGHTING persisted in east Ukraine today despite new European efforts to ensure that a ceasefire takes hold.

The Ukrainian military said that rebel fighters had attacked positions held by government troops 49 times in the past 24 hours, using rockets, artillery and armoured vehicles. Kiev military spokesman Anatoly Stelmach said there had been some shelling in the district of Mariupol — mostly government-held territory on the Sea of Azov.

The rebels accused government forces of also staging attacks, including on residential areas of Donetsk.