KIEV, March 10 - Ukraine's military said on Tuesday pro-Russian rebels were amassing heavy weapons in depots around separatist-held Donetsk city despite a ceasefire deal, Reuters reported.

Other reports, citing intercepted communication between the rebels, indicate that the pro-Russian forces may be preparing an advance “on all fronts” by the end of this week.

"(Rebels) are continuing to transport equipment and artillery ammunition intensively via the Debaltseve railway junction and build weapons storages around Donetsk," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in a televised briefing.

Attacks have fallen in the past week, but accusations from both sides of violations show the fragility of the peace deal agreed in Minsk last month, which calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitors the pull-back of weapons, has said it cannot fully confirm withdrawal on both sides as it has not been given access to all the locations where some weapons have been moved.

A statement on Facebook by the pro-Ukrainian Azov volunteer battalion, said that rebels are planning a possible attack on the town of Lysychansk, situated northwest of the rebel-held city of Luhansk, as well as pushes “in other directions” after today, according to a report by Newsweek.

The press secretary of the Azov battalion Vladislav Seleznev, told Ukrainian news publication Ukrainskaya Pravda his colleagues were currently working to verify the intercepted information.

While the initial statement by the Azov battalion cites the timeframe for the planned attack as “after 10th March,” Seleznev clarified that the rebels were debating an exact date between 10th and 15th March, meaning an advance could happen before the end of the week.

“We have the capabilities to fully respond to such a situation,” Seleznev said. “We are prepared for any development of this situation.”

“We have completely complied with the withdrawal of heavy weapons and heavy artillery and we are relying that the other side will also observe the Minsk agreement in full,” he added referring to the withdrawal of arms from the buffer zone agreed by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in a meeting in Minsk, Belarus last month.

Lysenko said Ukrainian positions had come under attack from separatists 31 times on Monday, including five instances of artillery fire, and reported nine servicemen had been wounded in the past 24 hours.

"The most troubled areas are Shyrokyne and around Donetsk airport ... yesterday there was fighting almost all day in Shyrokyne," Lysenko said, referring to a village on the outskirts of government-held Mariupol, a strategic port city Kiev fears could be the focus of the next rebel offensive.

On the rebel side, officials said Ukrainian forces had violated the ceasefire 17 times in the past 24 hours, but reported no casualties, separatist press service DAN said. (rt/nw/ez)