People look at the remains of a rocket shell on a street in the town of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Feb. 10, 2015.GLEB GARANICH/Reuters
Fighting in eastern Ukraine intensified on Tuesday ahead of much-anticipated peace talks, with both sides claiming significant advances and the government accusing the rebels of shelling a town far behind the front lines.
The intense fighting comes ahead of a crucial summit involving Western leaders on Wednesday, as well as peace talks later Tuesday.
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The UN says the Ukrainian conflict has killed more than 5,300 people since April. It has displaced at least one million people and left the powerhouse of the Ukrainian economy in ruins.
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KRAMATORSK: REBELS SHELL KIEV'S FORCES
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told Parliament that Russian-backed rebels launched an artillery strike on the town of Kramatorsk, which is more than 50 kilometres away from the front line. Kramatorsk was the site of major fighting until July when pro-Russian separatists retreated.
Poroshenko said the first round of rocket fire hit the headquarters of the Ukrainian command in eastern Ukraine and the second landed in a residential area. The government-controlled Donetsk regional administration said seven people were killed, while 16 people were injured in the residential area and 10 more at the military headquarters.
Rebels denied any involvement in the attack.
MARIUPOL: REPORTS OF REBEL RETREAT
The volunteer Azov battalion, loyal to Kiev, said on social media on Tuesday that it captured several villages northeast of the strategic port of Mariupol, pushing the rebels closer to the border with Russia. However, rebel military spokesman Eduard Basurin said in a televised news conference that the rebels have not retreated.
The Azov said rebels shelled the village of Kominternove, east of Mariupol, causing unspecified civilian casualties. An Associated Press reporter at a government checkpoint between there and government-controlled Mariupol was told of ongoing fighting several miles away. Two ambulances and four pick-up trucks carrying Ukrainian troops were seen coming from the direction of Kominternove toward Mariupol.
DEBALTSEVE: REBELS SAY THEY'VE MADE GAINS
The rebels reported advances, too. Basurin said late Monday that they have surrounded the railway hub of Debaltseve, the focus of fierce fighting in the past weeks, cutting it off from a major highway. A video posted online by a rebel-sympathizing website showed the separatists moving along the highway while the bloodied bodies of Ukrainian soldiers lay on the side of the road.
At least seven Ukrainian troops were killed overnight in the east, Ukrainian military spokesman Anatoliy Matyukhin said on Tuesday. In the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, which comes under constant shelling, two civilians were killed and 12 injured.
MINSK: PEACE TALKS SET TO BEGIN
Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, rebels and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe are meeting for long-anticipated talks later on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for a meeting on Wednesday between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.
The talks in Minsk on Tuesday were tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. local time, the Belarussian foreign ministry said.
MOSCOW: RUSSIANS WARN AGAINST NEW SANCTIONS
The Kremlin on Tuesday warned the West ahead of the talks against sending weapons to Ukraine or putting pressure on Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told the Russian News Service radio station on Tuesday that any talk about imposing new sanctions on Russia or arming the Ukraine government would destabilize the situation in Ukraine.