Separatists attack key city before Ukraine cease-fire deadline
ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine – Russian-backed separatists mounted a vicious assault Friday in eastern Ukraine ahead of a weekend cease-fire deadline, pummeling a strategic railway hub with wave upon wave of shelling in a last-minute grab for territory. At least 26 people were killed across the region.
The fiercest confrontations focused on the government-held town of Debaltseve, a key transport center that has been on the receiving end of dozens of artillery and rocket salvos in the 24-hour period after the peace deal was sealed Thursday by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.
Associated Press reporters observed intense shelling Friday along the highway north of Debaltseve, which remains the town’s only land link with the rest of government-controlled territory.
The deadline for the warring sides to halt hostilities is Sunday at one minute after midnight. Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted Petro Mekhed, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, as saying that separatist forces had been tasked with hoisting their flags over Debaltseve, as well as the key port city of Mariupol, before the cease-fire takes hold.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said 11 soldiers have been killed and 40 wounded across eastern Ukraine since the agreement was reached in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
In recent days, separatist fighters have nearly encircled Ukrainian forces in Debaltseve, where all but a few thousand civilians have fled the fighting.
Ukraine says Debaltseve should remain in government control under the terms of a September peace deal. A copy of that agreement leaked to Ukrainian media shows the town lying on the government’s side of the line of division agreed to by both the rebels and Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, Russia circulated a draft resolution Friday in the United Nations Security Council endorsing the agreement and calling on all parties involved to carry it out. The council is expected to vote on the resolution Sunday, hours after the cease-fire is to take effect.
The next step after the cease-fire is to form a sizable buffer zone between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels. Each side is to pull heavy weaponry back from the front line, creating a zone roughly 30-85 miles wide, depending on the caliber of the weapons. The withdrawals are to begin Monday and be completed in two weeks.
Other thorny political questions, including a degree of autonomy for the disputed eastern regions, are to be settled by the end of the year.
The peace deal envisions an amnesty for people involved in the conflict, but the vague terms of that provision will likely provoke further disagreements. Speaking to parliament, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said amnesty would not be granted to anyone suspected of committing crimes against humanity.