Ukraine's rebels go on the attack and reject truce talks

Separatist militants in Ukraine say they are advancing and have no interest in a ceasefire after the latest failure of international efforts to halt a worsening conflict.

Donetsk rebel chief Alexander Zakharchenko also said he would order his fighters not to take any more prisoners – implying they would kill any captured Ukrainian soldiers – after a bus bombing that he blamed on government forces.

Russian president Vladimir Putin condemned Kiev's pro-western leaders for allegedly rejecting his peace plan, and said they bore responsibility for the rising death toll after issuing "criminal orders" to attack the insurgents in the east.

Fierce fighting continued across a wide area of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces on Friday, making a mockery of claims on Wednesday by German, French, Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers to some progress in talks to implement a now all but moribund ceasefire plan agreed last September in Minsk.

“I consider the Minsk agreements . . . at the present moment to have been annulled by the Ukrainian side. There will be no talk about withdrawing artillery or tanks,” Mr Zakharchenko said.

“Our side will no longer push for any more truce talks. We are going to advance to the very border of Donetsk province.”

No more prisoners

Large parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are controlled by government forces, including key strategic points such as the Azov Sea port of Mariupol and the town of Slovyansk, a major source of water for the area.

“After this tragedy, I will give the order not to take any more prisoners,” Mr Zakharchenko said, referring to Thursday’s missile strike on a Donetsk bus, which killed at least eight people. “Respected Ukrainian mothers – you are sending your children to their deaths here!”

Kiev blames the rebels for the apparent mortar attack, saying government troops were too far from the site to be responsible. Last week, 13 civilians died when rockets allegedly fired by the militants hit a bus in a different area.

Mr Putin also lambasted Ukraine’s leaders, saying they had ignored his proposals for a withdrawal of heavy weapons and instead launched “large- scale military action”.

“Those who gave such criminal orders are responsible” for the resulting deaths, Mr Putin said, urging Kiev to negotiate a resolution to the conflict.

“I hope common sense will ultimately prevail.”

Ukraine’s leaders think Mr Putin is ready to destroy the country if he can’t stop its bid to align with the West.

They do not see a peacemaker in the man who sent Russian troops into Georgia in 2008, oversaw a 1999-2000 war with Chechen rebels that killed tens of thousands of civilians, and annexed Crimea last year.

The US and Nato support Kiev’s assertions that Russian soldiers and weapons are playing a major role in the conflict, which has killed more than 5,000 people.

Moscow denies sending forces into Ukraine and insists it wants the country to remain whole, but with broad autonomy given to the regions.

Kiev says a federal system would allow the Kremlin to stir up trouble whenever Ukraine sought closer ties with the West.