Fighting in Ukraine spreads into rebel-held Donetsk

DONETSK, Ukraine – Fighting in eastern Ukraine reached the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Tuesday as separatists and government troops exchanged rocket fire in neighborhoods on the edge of the city.

In a western district of Donetsk, rockets apparently fired from a government position landed in the courtyard of a one-story house, killing an elderly resident.

The spread of fighting into the city itself marks a decisive turn for the conflict, but one that will arouse fears of an alarming escalation in the humanitarian crisis gripping the country’s easternmost regions.

As government troops try to tighten their encirclement of rebel citadels, officials in Kiev have warned of a spike in Russian troop numbers along the border, arousing renewed fears of intervention by Moscow.

In the morning, an Associated Press journalist saw a tank bearing the Ukrainian blue-and-yellow flag at a key checkpoint in the western suburb of Marinka, which lies on a road into Donetsk.

Rebel combatants could still be seen hunkered down in sniper positions in a nearby area closer to the center.

Defense officials swiftly played down the presence of government troops in Marinka, insisting that more fighting lay ahead before the area could be properly secured.

By the afternoon, however, there were signs the army was looking to advance further into the city.

The shell that landed by a house in western Donetsk’s Petrovsky district killed a resident that neighbors identified only as Galina, along with her dog.

Separatist fighters responded to incoming fire with rocket attacks of their own.

Fighting across eastern Ukraine has forced more than 285,000 people to flee their homes, according to U.N. figures released Tuesday.