Dozens protest against ceasefire in east Ukraine

Dozens of protesters marched to Ukraine's presidential office in Kyiv on Monday against measures taken by Ukrainian authorities to settle a cease-fire with Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country.

The demonstrators disagree with the move to agree the truce, which is scheduled to begin at midnight into Tuesday.

The Ukrainian military and rebel forces have started preparing for a "full and comprehensive" cease-fire, a move officials hope can lead to work to resolve the six-year-old conflict.

However, protesters in Kyiv expressed anger with what demonstrator Svyatoslav Boyko called the "clumsy leadership" of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Fellow protester Anton Sosnovskiy accused Zelenskiy of "capitulating" to Russia after the "cynical killings" of Ukrainian soldiers.

If upheld, the cease-fire would “pave the way for implementing other clauses” of the Minsk peace deal, the office of Ukraine’s president said earlier this week.

Brokered in 2015 by France and Germany, the Minsk peace plan aimed to resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists that flared in 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for the separatists.

The conflict has since killed more than 14,000.

(Representative Image)