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Why is Ukraine at war? Will Ukraine return to war?
(about 2 months later)
A shaky ceasefire is holding in eastern Ukraine, despite sporadic shelling, and the country's parliament has offered an amnesty and self-rule to the pro-Russian rebels in the east. Pro-Russian rebels control broad swathes of eastern Ukraine and a fragile ceasefire with government forces could end at any time and return the region to deadly conflict.
Ukraine's Western allies accuse Russia of sending in troops and armour to help the rebels. Ukraine's Western allies accuse Russia of sending in troops and armour to help the rebels - an allegation repeatedly denied by the government in Moscow.
Shortly before the 5 September ceasefire a new front opened up on the coast, with the rebels seizing Novoazovsk, a small town on the way to the strategic port city of Mariupol. Some 4,000 people have already lost their lives in a crisis that few could see coming.
Why did the fighting erupt in eastern Ukraine? Why did fighting erupt in eastern Ukraine?
In April, pro-Russian activists stormed government buildings across the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Many of them were armed, and a tense stand-off with the Kiev authorities escalated. In April, pro-Russian activists seized control of government buildings in towns and cities across the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The events were a repeat of what had happened in Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
Gunmen there seized government buildings in February and raised the Russian flag a week after elected President Viktor Yanukovych, friendly to Moscow, was toppled after massive pro-European street protests.
Russian politicians and media portrayed the Kiev leaders as Ukrainian nationalists bent on violating Russian-speakers' rights.Russian politicians and media portrayed the Kiev leaders as Ukrainian nationalists bent on violating Russian-speakers' rights.
Russia's annexation of Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula, in March gave momentum to the rebels' drive to break away from Kiev. A flawed referendum on joining Russia was quickly held in Crimea and within a month the peninsula's annexation was complete.
The activists were enraged by the installation of a new pro-Western government in Kiev after massive street protests had toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February. There was little bloodshed in Crimea but Ukraine's fledgling revolutionary government was in no position to fight back, with only 6,000 troops reportedly ready for combat.
Mr Yanukovych, friendly to Moscow, had been elected democratically. But there was widespread discontent over economic stagnation, corruption and cronyism, and his refusal to sign up to a partnership with the EU. However, when pro-Russian separatists made a move on Ukraine's industrial east and Russian forces appeared to be building up on the borders, the Kiev authorities ordered an "anti-terrorist operation".
He used to be a powerful politician in the east, where the majority Russian-speakers mostly feel a strong bond with Russia. What was the result of the war?
Is the Russian military helping the rebels? For several weeks, the pro-Russian separatists had the upper hand in an increasingly bloody conflict but the election of a new president, Petro Poroshenko, appeared to revive the armed forces and volunteer battalions.
Yes. The question is, how much of this help is orchestrated at a senior level in Russia. An initial ceasefire failed in late June, and separatists were forced to pull out of key areas of northern Donetsk. By early August, Ukrainian forces were besieging the major cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied allegations by the government in Kiev and the West that it is supplying troops and sophisticated military hardware to the rebels. But, amid reports that Russian irregulars and even servicemen were fighting inside Ukraine, the separatists recaptured Luhansk airport, regained ground and opened up a new front, driving towards Mariupol on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
But in August the rebel leader in Donetsk, Alexander Zakharchenko, said 3-4,000 Russian citizens had been fighting alongside the rebels. He said Russian soldiers were continuing to join the rebel ranks, rather than "going to the beach". A ceasefire was signed in Minsk, Belarus on 5 September and, despite repeated violations and hundreds more deaths, it is still nominally in force.
Nato has released satellite pictures showing, it says, Russian artillery and military columns inside Ukraine. And Nato officials say at least 1,000 Russian troops are operating in Ukraine, with about 20,000 more near the border. Ukraine's war: The human cost
Is Ukraine getting help from the West? Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 31 October
The US says it is supplying Ukraine with non-lethal military equipment, including radios, vehicles and "non-lethal individual tactical gear". Can the ceasefire survive?
The US is also sharing some intelligence information with Ukraine, the New York Times reports. But that does not include real-time data on potential targets, the paper's sources say. It is looking increasingly unlikely. Despite a lower intensity of violence and a succession of prisoner releases, both sides appear prepared for a resumption of the conflict, with reports of heavy artillery and fighters streaming into the region.
Ukraine is not in Nato, but the alliance says the 28 member states can supply arms to Ukraine individually if they want to. Ukraine's Defence Minister Valery Heletey says those deliveries have begun. One rebel field commander has described the current truce as a strategic pause.
There are unconfirmed reports that US military advisers helped Ukraine in its major offensive against the rebels in July-August. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has said a key plank of the ceasefire deal should be abandoned, namely the special status of partial autonomy granted to the rebel-held areas.
The EU has put in place a wide-ranging economic support package for Ukraine, to help Kiev manage its debts and balance-of-payments problems. He has also called for Ukrainian forces to prepare their defences against a possible rebel attack in the cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov as well as the north-eastern city of Kharkiv and the region of Dnipropetrovsk to the west of Donetsk.
Are we seeing a repetition of what happened in Crimea? He was responding to what he called the 2 November "pseudo-elections" held in separatist parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia recognised but Ukraine and Western nations did not.
There are clear parallels, but also some important differences. Mr Poroshenko said he was still committed to the Minsk peace plan but tensions after the vote are high.
There are many reports of well-trained Russian-speaking soldiers operating in eastern Ukraine without insignia on their uniforms or vehicles. What was the problem with the rebel elections?
Similar soldiers, nicknamed "little green men", seized key installations in Crimea. Only later did Russia admit that they came from Russia. Earlier Russia had claimed that all the armed men were local separatists. Ukraine and the West insist that under the Minsk ceasefire deal a local poll would be held as part of the special status subsequently given to Donetsk and Luhansk by Ukraine's parliament. Legislation provided for elections on 7 December, not a month earlier and organised by the separatists themselves.
The separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence after referendums on 11 May, which were not recognised by Kiev or its Western allies. Russian President Vladimir Putin says that all they agreed to in Minsk was to hold elections "in co-ordination with, not in line with" Ukrainian election plans.
A similar controversial referendum was held in Crimea, before the region was incorporated into Russia - an act condemned internationally. However, the vote on 2 November had echoes of disputed 11 May referendums, which prompted the rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk to declare independence.
But Russia has long had a sovereign naval base in Crimea - at Sevastopol - and native Russian-speakers are by far the largest group on the peninsula. Crimea was transferred to Ukraine from Russia in 1954, in Soviet times. Although the government in Moscow has recognised the 2 November poll, which confirmed Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky as the regions' leaders, it has also called for dialogue and an end to Ukraine's "anti-terror operation".
In eastern Ukraine, the population is more mixed ethnically and politically - and it is a far bigger area to control than Crimea. Is there anything the international community can do?
Why does this matter for the rest of Europe? Part of the Minsk deal enabled a European observer team to monitor the ceasefire. However, their mission is under regular threat, and one of four monitoring drones came under rebel fire on 3 November.
It is widely recognised to be Europe's biggest security crisis since the Cold War period, which ended in 1989. For Europe's leaders, the 12-point truce deal is the only plan in town and the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has said it will be "extremely difficult if not impossible to start again".
For years the EU has been developing closer ties with Ukraine, yet Russia has been urging Ukraine to join its customs union with some other ex-Soviet countries. Perhaps the main question at the heart of this is whether or not Russia wants eastern Ukraine to be stable.
Ukraine is on a geopolitical fault line - torn between east and west, its internal tensions were not resolved after the USSR's collapse in 1991. In the words of French President Francois Hollande: "The objective is to convince Moscow and the separatists to renounce escalation and return to a dialogue."
Nato and the EU accuse Russia of bullying Ukraine and say such tactics are unacceptable. What does Russia want?
Most of the ex-communist countries in eastern Europe, once dominated by Moscow, demand a tough stance towards Russia's President Vladimir Putin. The Ukraine conflict has coincided with a sharp deterioration in relations between Russia and the West and the Kremlin has reacted angrily to sanctions imposed on a number of high-profile Russians for their role in the crisis.
The EU and US have ratcheted up sanctions against Russia, hoping to force Mr Putin to back down over Ukraine and enter serious negotiations with Kiev. But President Vladimir Putin's aims are unclear. He backed the Minsk peace deal and, after months of talks, Russia agreed a deal to resume gas supplies to Ukraine.
War in eastern Ukraine: The human cost What is not known is whether Mr Putin is prepared for a resumption of hostilities. There is a widespread belief that he is looking at freezing the conflict, keeping Ukraine unstable as a means of maintaining the region in Russia's orbit.
While the Kremlin has repeatedly denied supplying troops and sophisticated military hardware to the rebels, Alexander Zakharchenko, the Donetsk rebel leader, said in August that 3-4,000 Russian citizens had been fighting alongside the rebels.
Although the numbers have declined, Ukrainian officials believe there is still a Russian military presence in the east.
One question that remains unanswered is whether Russia feels it needs a land corridor to Crimea.
Although a costly bridge or tunnel is due to be built from the mainland across the Kerch Strait to the peninsula, if the separatists were to capture Mariupol, that would pave the way for access further west along the coast to Crimea.
Aren't Russia's concerns legitimate?
Ukraine's geopolitical tug of war between the West and Russia all began in November 2013 when then-President Yanukovych pulled out of a deal on closer ties to the European Union at the last minute.
That decision and a subsequent deal with President Putin for cheaper Russian gas supplies sparked protests that ultimately brought Mr Yanukovych down.
So Russia, fearful of Nato reaching its borders, has concentrated on maintaining the regions with which it has closest ties in its orbit.
Ukraine is not in Nato but the alliance says member states can supply arms individually. Ukraine said in September that those deliveries had begun.
There were also unconfirmed reports that US military advisers had helped Ukraine in its major offensive against the rebels in July-August.