[QUOTE]
DONETSK, Ukraine — Heavy fighting broke out Sunday between Ukrainian and rebel forces on the north side of Donetsk, killing at least six people in one of the most serious clashes since the 10-day-old cease-fire came into force. The airport, where Ukrainian troops are almost surrounded, was on fire, billowing black smoke, and a house and a city market burned just off the main boulevard inside the city.
“It’s not a cease-fire. It’s full-on fighting,” a rebel fighter said. Tanks were out on the streets midafternoon, and pro-Russian rebel fighters raced reinforcements along the main boulevard in civilian cars toward their positions on the approaches to the airport.
In a residential area just off the main boulevard, hospital workers collected bodies from the sidewalks and homes hit hours earlier. They took at least six, most of them of older adults who appeared to have been walking home from the market, and a rebel policeman who had been trying to guide people to cover when he was hit.
Artillery fire resounded for hours, through Saturday night and much of the day Sunday, as Ukrainian forces at the airport and areas northwest of the city traded fire with the separatist forces that control the city and most of the surrounding territory. It was unclear who instigated the fighting or why, but the sound of rifle fire at the airport midafternoon indicated the two sides were engaged in close combat.
The two sides have shelled each other almost daily since the cease-fire agreement was signed Sept. 5, each blaming the other for violations, but generally the intense, large-scale battles of recent months have ceased. Sunday’s action was, however, a marked escalation, suggesting that one side or the other was on the attack.
Rebel fighters who brought one of their wounded to the city hospital said fighting was underway in the contested village of Pesky, on the outskirts of the city, where both sides have a foothold, they said. Ukrainian troops had been strengthening their positions in the village in recent days and were firing on rebel positions, they said. Tanks and multiple rocket launchers also repeatedly sounded from rebel bases inside the city.
Representatives of the Ukrainian military could not immediately be reached for comment. Agence France-Presse quoted one official as blaming the rebels, who he said had launched a broad offensive at the airport.
The shelling inside the city at midday shocked residents, most of whom have been venturing out shopping and fetching necessities since the cease-fire started.
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[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/world/europe/deadly-fighting-in-donetsk-ukraine.html[/url]
at least 6, i mean its only a population center with people on either side of the streets
So much for a ceasefire. I'm still hopeful that the Ukrainian forces will pull through, though.
[quote]Ukrainian troops had been strengthening their positions in the village in recent days and were firing on rebel positions[/quote]
Ceasefire's are best used to position your troops and weaken the enemy it seems.
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;45984183]Ceasefire's are best used to position your troops and weaken the enemy it seems.[/QUOTE]
Its been a pretty strong ceasefire apart from a couple of fronts that both sides battling it out still, its not a one sided thing. VICE has reported on numerous tanks and such still coming across the border as well as continuous shelling of both sides.
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;45984183]Ceasefire's are best used to position your troops and weaken the enemy it seems.[/QUOTE]
Any general or military leader who thinks elsewise needs to be fired on the spot.
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