Ukraine's president has warned that a deal to end the war in the east is in "great danger" after heavy fighting ahead of Saturday night's ceasefire.
Petro Poroshenko also accused Russia of "significantly increasing" its offensive despite the peace agreement reached in Minsk on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the US said it was very concerned by reports of heavy weapons coming across the border from Russia.
Shelling was heard in the rebel-held city of Donetsk early on Saturday.
Fierce battles are also said to be continuing around Debaltseve, a strategic government-held town almost encircled by rebel forces.
The BBC's David Stern in Kiev says that as the clock ticks down to the ceasefire, fears are rising that it won't be observed.
More than a dozen civilians are said to have died in shelling in eastern Ukraine on Friday.
It is unclear who was behind the shelling but both the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions accuse each other of targeting residential areas.
The presidents of France, Russia and Ukraine as well as the German chancellor - who together clinched the agreement in the Belarusian capital - are due to discuss the issue by phone over the weekend.
The UN Security Council will also meet in emergency session on Sunday.
'Escalation expected'
Correspondents say the fighting shows no sign of stopping.
Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Petro Mekhed said the rebels wanted to "raise their flag" over Debaltseve and the key port city of Mariupol before the midnight ceasefire (22:00 GMT) kicked in.
"Ukraine is expecting an escalation and taking all necessary measures to be able to respond," Mr Mekhed told reporters.
Rebel fighters have continued to besiege the government-held town of Debaltseve
A young child was killed in Artemivsk in what the local authorities said was shelling by rebels
Government forces were also reported to have retaken a number of villages around Mariupol
President Poroshenko said despite the agreement there was a "long way to go to peace"
Rebel shelling killed two people in a cafe in Shchastya, near Luhansk, on Friday as well as a child near a school in Artemivsk, a town near Debaltseve, according to Kiev-controlled regional authorities.
Meanwhile, the rebels said at least six people had died in shelling in the city of Donetsk and town of Horlivka. The rebels accuse government forces of shelling the towns.
"After what we achieved in Minsk this is not just shelling of Ukrainian civilians and residential neighbourhoods - this is an attack on our Minsk achievements, without any explanations," President Poroshenko said.
"Unfortunately, after Minsk, Russia's offensive operations have intensified," he said, before adding: "We are still convinced that the Minsk achievements are in a big danger."
There were also reports of a government offensive near Mariupol, the city between rebel-held eastern areas and the southern Crimea peninsula, which was annexed by Russia last March.
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