An uneasy calm is holding in eastern Ukraine, despite reports of continued fighting in some pockets, especially in and around Donetsk.

Since September 5 the two sides have been supposed to respect a ceasefire, but that has been violated on a daily basis, with the Ukrainians complaining that occasionally these have been full-blown attacks on their defensive positions.

In places like Donetsk it is ordinary people who are suffering.

“I hope Russia will support us in the future, and save us from this horror. Our Ukraine doesn’t want to give us any money. They say ‘let those defending you feed you and pay your pensions.’ In the last four months none of the grandmothers among us, or my mother, have received anything. We have no money and we don’t know how we’ll survive,” said one elderly woman.

The airport in Donetsk remains in government hands but is under daily attack. Kyiv says last night its forces repulsed a major attempt to take it. Yet talks have begun between the government and the pro-Russian separatists to set up a heavy weapons-free buffer zone of 30 km between them.