SHYROKYNE, Ukraine (AP) — To reach rear-guard government positions in the seaside town of Shyrokyne, Ukrainian soldiers gingerly wind their off-roaders through private gardens hugging a precipice along the Azov Sea.
Residents and government troops alike believe the separatists’ ultimate aim is to take Mariupol — and eventually create a land bridge between Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed last March.
Government forces in Shyrokyne are only truly at ease behind three defensive lines separating them from the heat of fighting in the center.
Several hundred meters away, mortar shells landing in the sea sprayed up columns of water.
Under the truce, fighting was …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
