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| Fighting Intensifies Along Eastern Ukraine Cease-Fire Line | Fighting Intensifies Along Eastern Ukraine Cease-Fire Line |
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| MOSCOW — Fighting between government forces and Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine has escalated sharply in recent days, with each side blaming the other for the violence. | |
| At least nine people were killed in artillery strikes on Monday in villages and towns on both sides of a cease-fire line, and United States officials have said that one three-day period of fighting along the front last week was the most intense since a February cease-fire. | At least nine people were killed in artillery strikes on Monday in villages and towns on both sides of a cease-fire line, and United States officials have said that one three-day period of fighting along the front last week was the most intense since a February cease-fire. |
| Neither side has openly renounced the cease-fire, but European monitors of the accord say both have been pulling heavy weapons out of storage sites and putting them to use. | Neither side has openly renounced the cease-fire, but European monitors of the accord say both have been pulling heavy weapons out of storage sites and putting them to use. |
| The United States State Department blamed Russia and pro-Russian rebels for the uptick in violence. American officials have characterized the fighting as possibly a new attempt by Russia to destabilize the Ukrainian government. | The United States State Department blamed Russia and pro-Russian rebels for the uptick in violence. American officials have characterized the fighting as possibly a new attempt by Russia to destabilize the Ukrainian government. |
| “Russia and the separatists are launching these attacks, just as they escalated the conflict last August,” the department’s spokesman, John Kirby, told reporters in Washington. “Efforts by Russia and separatists to grab more territory will be met with further costs.” | “Russia and the separatists are launching these attacks, just as they escalated the conflict last August,” the department’s spokesman, John Kirby, told reporters in Washington. “Efforts by Russia and separatists to grab more territory will be met with further costs.” |
| President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Tuesday blamed Ukraine. After emerging from a dive in a miniature submarine in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed last year, Mr. Putin said that, “regrettably, we are now seeing this conflict escalation and the blame lies not with the Donbas militia but with the rival side.” | President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Tuesday blamed Ukraine. After emerging from a dive in a miniature submarine in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed last year, Mr. Putin said that, “regrettably, we are now seeing this conflict escalation and the blame lies not with the Donbas militia but with the rival side.” |
| Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said on Monday that the Ukrainian authorities had failed to carry out the political points of the February cease-fire, which he said called for Kiev to cede power to the two separatist regions. | Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said on Monday that the Ukrainian authorities had failed to carry out the political points of the February cease-fire, which he said called for Kiev to cede power to the two separatist regions. |
| The Ukrainians, he said, are “more concerned over how to keep alive Russophobia in the West and how to artificially whip up tension.” | The Ukrainians, he said, are “more concerned over how to keep alive Russophobia in the West and how to artificially whip up tension.” |
| Before the latest escalation, four vehicles belonging to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were burned outside the Park Inn hotel in Donetsk, limiting the group’s ability to monitor rebel military actions. | Before the latest escalation, four vehicles belonging to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were burned outside the Park Inn hotel in Donetsk, limiting the group’s ability to monitor rebel military actions. |
| Ivica Dacic, the foreign minister of Serbia, which holds the chairmanship of the O.S.C.E., issued a statement last week condemning the arsons and subsequent resumption of fighting, at the time focused around one village, Starohnativka, northeast of the strategic Ukrainian-controlled port of Mariupol. | Ivica Dacic, the foreign minister of Serbia, which holds the chairmanship of the O.S.C.E., issued a statement last week condemning the arsons and subsequent resumption of fighting, at the time focused around one village, Starohnativka, northeast of the strategic Ukrainian-controlled port of Mariupol. |
| Since then, skirmishes have become general along the length of the front, the European monitoring mission’s statements suggest. | Since then, skirmishes have become general along the length of the front, the European monitoring mission’s statements suggest. |
| On Saturday, European monitors reported hearing 184 explosions in Donetsk that were consistent with mortar fire on the front that runs through the city’s outlying northwestern districts. South of Donetsk, along a river that roughly defines the front line, monitors found fresh craters from howitzers and rocket artillery on both sides. | On Saturday, European monitors reported hearing 184 explosions in Donetsk that were consistent with mortar fire on the front that runs through the city’s outlying northwestern districts. South of Donetsk, along a river that roughly defines the front line, monitors found fresh craters from howitzers and rocket artillery on both sides. |
| On the government side, monitors noted that the Ukrainian Army had removed eight Grad rocket-launching trucks from a holding area, where they had been taken to comply with the cease-fire. | On the government side, monitors noted that the Ukrainian Army had removed eight Grad rocket-launching trucks from a holding area, where they had been taken to comply with the cease-fire. |
| The separatist news agency DAN reported that artillery fire killed three people in the town of Horlivka and two in Donetsk. | The separatist news agency DAN reported that artillery fire killed three people in the town of Horlivka and two in Donetsk. |
| The Ukrainian Army reported that one soldier was killed in the fighting, and officials said that two people were killed overnight Monday from shelling in a Ukrainian-held village on the outskirts of Mariupol. A third resident of the village, a mother who had been caught in the open with her 10-year-old daughter while running for cover, died on Tuesday in a hospital. | The Ukrainian Army reported that one soldier was killed in the fighting, and officials said that two people were killed overnight Monday from shelling in a Ukrainian-held village on the outskirts of Mariupol. A third resident of the village, a mother who had been caught in the open with her 10-year-old daughter while running for cover, died on Tuesday in a hospital. |