Mykhailo Palinchak/Reuters One of the enduring ironies about ceasefires is that they can immediately produce more violence as combatants struggle for advantage before the deadline to put down their weapons. The lag between the signing and the implementation of last week’s Ukrainian ceasefire reflected this pattern. Nor did the fighting end when the ceasefire actually did take effect. On Tuesday, Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine finally captured Debaltseve, a strategic Ukrainian railway town, ending weeks of pitched battle over the area. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered his troops to leave. Yet a rebel commander insisted that this bout …read more
Source: The Atlantic
