A unilateral ceasefire called by Russia appears to have had little effect on fighting on the ground, with officials accusing each other of opening fire on several areas. A Ukrainian rescue worker was killed in a Russian strike, while Russian state TV said the city of Donetsk was hit. Russia ordered a 36-hour unilateral ceasefire, to coincide with the Orthodox Christmas. Ukraine rejected it saying Moscow might use it to reinforce troops. Russia’s defence ministry insisted it was observing the truce along the entire “line of contact”, starting at 12:00 Moscow time (09:00 GMT) on Friday. It blamed Kyiv for continuing to shell Russian positions and settlements in occupied Ukraine. Air alerts were reported across Ukraine shortly after the purported truce began, and then the governor of Kherson region said a strike on a fire station left rescuer dead and four other people wounded in the main city, liberated in November by Ukrainian forces.(BBC)…[+]