An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday night ended with the body declaring it was “very worried about the risk of a resumption of total war” in Ukraine.

OSCE and NATO representatives again gave evidence of Russian weapons and men crossing the border into eastern Ukraine, confirming Kyiv’s accusation, but they were dismissed as “propaganda without proof” and “lies” by Russia’s UN ambassador.

The Council called on all signatories of the Minsk peace agreement to honour and respect its conditions and refrain from inciting violence.

However on the ground the violence is steadily ratcheting up with the OSCE saying the two-month ceasefire is now a virtual one.

In Kyiv on Wednesday the government announced it was redeploying the armed forces to the eastern front, where the defence minister said he expected an offensive at any time following the arrival of Russian reinforcements over the weekend.

Donetsk was the scene of heavy artillery exchanges on Wednesday, with fierce fighting continuing for the airport, and shells destroying more homes in residential areas.