ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — Lingering hopes for a Ukraine cease-fire appeared in danger of slipping away Thursday as fighting flared along a front stretching from a railway hub seized by pro-Moscow rebels to a strategic port that could be their next target.
The anticipation of more war — rather than a peace deal reached last week — has pushed Ukraine’s Western-backed government into crisis mode with appeals for international peacekeepers and internal political tensions over humiliating battlefield losses.
Shelling continued in areas around Debaltseve, a rail center that shifted into rebel hands Wednesday after the retreat of beleaguered Ukrainian troops.
The chaotic withdrawal left …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
