Rebel fighters made a push on yesterday to cut off a government-held road and rail junction in east Ukraine, vowing on the eve of peace talks that they would not cease fire until they had achieved their aim of taking more territory.
Some 30 miles (50 km) north of the front line, in government-held Kramatorsk, rockets slammed into the headquarters of Ukraine’s local military operation and a nearby district of residential apartment blocks. The rebels denied firing on the town.
Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany are due to hold a summit in Minsk on Wednesday under a new Franco-German initiative to halt fighting that in recent weeks reopened a war which has killed more than 5,000 people.
European officials have so far held out minimal hope for the talks, saying the rebels and Moscow have few reasons to halt while they are taking new ground.
In Vuhlehirsk, a small town captured by rebels last week, volleys of artillery crashed in both directions as the rebels pushed to encircle government forces holding out in the nearby garrison of Debaltseve, the main target of the rebel advance. Rebels sounded triumphant and said they had no intention of halting until they have trapped the government troops in the town, which controls vital road and rail links.
“The Debaltseve bubble has been shut firmly. We will not let them out. There is no way they can get out,” said a commander of a reconnaissance unit who identified himself by the nom de guerre of Malysh - “Little One.”
Asked whether the rebels sought a ceasefire now, Malysh, who said he was a Russian fighter and not a Ukrainian, replied: “We are absolutely against it. They will have time to regroup. We have them now.”
Kiev announced on Tuesday that its forces had launched a counter-offensive in the southeast to relieve separatist pressure on the coastal town of Mariupol, the biggest city in the rebellious provinces still in government hands.