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 President Petro Poroshenko, whose initiative to boost the armed
forces by a third was passed easily in parliament, has called the
ceasefire the last chance for peace with the pro-Russian rebels.
Accusations of continued violence on both sides show the fragility
of the peace accord, agreed in Minsk last month, which calls for the
withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline.
Some 6,000 people have been killed in fighting since separatists
took up arms last year in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland -
the 'Donbass' - in response to the overthrow of the Moscow-backed
president, Viktor Yanukovich, in Kiev.
Interior Ministry adviser Zoryan Shkiryak said the rebels were not
only failing to stop firing and pull back, but in fact building up
forces in southern Donetsk province, near the Ukrainian-held port
city of Mariupol.
 "There is no use in talking about a ceasefire from the side of the
rebels. They are not withdrawing arms, they are not observing the
ceasefire, they continue to relocate units and increase their number
of tanks and rocket launchers," he said.
Another military spokesman said rebels had attacked Ukrainian
troops' positions or civilian targets 40 times within the previous
24 hours, including 17 artillery attacks. For their part, the rebels
accuse Ukrainian forces almost daily of shelling and firing.
The conflict has plunged ties between Russia and the West to Cold
War-era lows as Kiev, along with the United States and the European
Union, say they have evidence that Moscow is arming the rebels and
boosting their ranks with regular army soldiers.
Russia has repeatedly denied the accusations and accused the United
States of pushing Kiev's pro-Western government into conflict with
its own people.
At a parliamentary session, 270 lawmakers voted in favor of a bill,
initiated by Poroshenko last month, to boost the armed forces by a
third to 250,000 personnel.
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"Whoever votes against this law or doesn't support this law is
working for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, for Russian
aggression, so that the foot of the Russian occupier steps on our
land in Donbass and our Crimean soil," said Radical Party leader
Oleh Lyashko.
"It's obvious that our country will be strong and successful only
when it has a powerful army."
The bill only needs Poroshenko's signature to become law.
NATO said this week that the ceasefire was holding overall, and
urged both sides to continue to withdraw artillery from the
frontline.
Since late last week, journalists have seen guns being sent back
from the frontline on both sides.
However, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
entrusted with monitoring the pullout, says it cannot fully confirm
it as it has not been given access to the locations where some
weapons have been moved.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Writing by Thomas Grove; Editing by
Kevin Liffey)
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