Russia and Ukraine blame each other as fighting continues despite Moscow's truce

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said connected Saturday that warring had been taking spot successful 4 regions of Ukraine contempt this week's unilateral ceasefire by Moscow, saying its troops had been forced to respond to Ukrainian attacks.

Ukraine says Russia has continued to onslaught it and has called the ceasefire a farce. It did not articulation the truce but is calling alternatively for a 30-day ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump is urging the warring sides to agree.

Reuters could not verify battlefield accounts by either side. The 72-hour ceasefire, declared by President Vladimir Putin to people the 80th day of triumph implicit Nazi Germany, expires astatine midnight (2100 GMT) connected Saturday.

In a statement, the Russian defence ministry said its forces were sticking to the ceasefire - which Ukraine denies - and remaining astatine antecedently occupied lines, but that they were retaliating against "violations" by Ukraine.

It alleged that Kyiv's forces had mounted attacks successful the Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine and adjacent 12 antithetic settlements successful Donetsk region, which it said Russian troops had repelled.

A wounded Ukrainian worker astatine a tract infirmary successful Zaporizhzhia portion told Reuters connected Friday nighttime that "there hasn't been immoderate ceasefire" and thing had changed. "Shelling has continued conscionable arsenic before, drones are flying conscionable similar before," helium said.

The Russian connection besides said that Ukraine had tried 4 times to interruption crossed the borderline into Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions, but did not specify erstwhile the alleged attempted incursions had taken place.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Louise Heavens)