AFP, Kiev :Up to 10,000 Russian soldiers and their heavy weapons are still deployed in rebel-held eastern Ukraine despite a new ceasefire, a top Ukrainian military commander said Tuesday.”The number of soldiers of the Russian Federation is between 6,000 to 8,000, though according to some sources it is up to 10,000,” General Staff commander Viktor Muzhenko told reporters. Close to 50,000 Russian soldiers are also stationed along Ukraine’s eastern border, where heavy weaponry has continued to flow in since the December 9 truce started, he added.The ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels was introduced in hopes of ending an eight-month conflict that has claimed at least 4,700 lives and displaced close to one million people, the UN said Monday.Kiev and the West have repeatedly accused Russia of sending troops into Ukraine to back local rebels. Moscow denies this. Muzhenko also claimed Moscow has continued to ship heavy weapons and reinforcements to the rebels since the start of the ceasefire, including troop transports, armoured vehicles, tanks and artillery.Despite the isolated bombardment of Ukrainian positions, the ceasefire has been holding, Muzhenko said. “The amount of bombardment with heavy weapons-Grad multiple rocket launchers, artillery, mortars-has considerably decreased to two to three times per day,” he added. Meanwhile, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his French, German and Ukrainian counterparts agreed in a phonecall early Wednesday that they wanted talks between Kiev, Moscow and rebels controlling parts of eastern Ukraine to resume as soon as possible.The telephone conversation came after the White House confirmed that US President Barack Obama will sign into law fresh sanctions against Russia.The Kremlin said in a statement that the leaders “continued discussion of the crisis situation in Ukraine” and stressed the “necessity of a stable ceasefire” in conflict-hit eastern Ukraine.They also noted “the importance of holding a meeting of the contact group as soon as possible in the interests of carrying out the Minsk pact,” the Kremlin said, referring to a peace deal reached in September.
