By Alexander Kolyandr in Moscow and Nick Shchetko in Minsk, Belarus
Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists clashed Saturday
in eastern Ukraine, less than half a day before a cease-fire
brokered by European leaders was due to come into effect.
The truce, seen as a possible last chance to put an end to a
surge in the deadly fighting, is set to begin at midnight local
time. But a previous deal in September collapsed, and doubts about
the implementation of the new agreement grew as both sides
squabbled over the specifics and violence continued.
The transport hub of Debaltseve remained at the center of severe
clashes Saturday as separatists sought to encircle and seize the
Ukrainian-held town. The cease-fire agreement technically puts the
city under Ukrainian control.
"The militants are destroying the town of Debaltseve. Artillery
strikes non-stop at civilian houses and buildings. The town is
burning," said a post Saturday on the Facebook account of
Vyacheslav Abroskin, the Ukrainian regional police chief for the
embattled Donetsk region.
Ukraine army spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said the rebels were
amassing heavy arms, and with the help of the Russian forces were
trying to enlarge their territory ahead of the cease-fire.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday the
Russian military had deployed artillery around Debaltseve and was
shelling Ukrainian positions. "We are confident these are Russian
military, not separatist systems," she said in a briefing.
"This is clearly not in the spirit of this week's agreement,"
Ms. Psaki told reporters.
The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, posted three
satellite images on Twitter showing what he said were Russian
artillery systems northeast of Debaltseve.
The Russian defense ministry denied the allegations, telling
local news agencies that the "dark spots" on the pictures weren't
proof of anything.
Ukrainian forces held their ground in Debaltseve despite the
"insane pressure, shellings and several powerful attacks," Col.
Lysenko said.
Heavy fighting was also reported near the Azov sea port of
Mariupol. The city council said there were eight occasions of heavy
shelling in the vicinity Saturday.
In Shyrokine, a town close to Mariupol, there were heavy battles
since early morning on Saturday, Azov Battalion reported on its
Facebook page. The Azov Battalion, a voluntary militia group
fighting along with the Ukrainian army, said Shyrokine was nearly
leveled by artillery fire. The group reported a large number of
wounded and called for reinforcements.
In the past 24 hours, government forces had seven dead and 23
wounded, according to Col. Lysenko.
The rebels didn't provide a number of casualties. The head of
the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander
Zakharchenko, said Saturday the rebels under his command had
stopped fire on all directions apart from Debaltseve, as "there was
no mentioning of the town in the Minsk agreements."
Speaking in Donetsk, he added the whole region should be under
the rebels' control in the future. The rebels control about a half
of the territory of Donetsk region.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko put all the responsibility
for any possible breach of the cease-fire on the separatists. "We
are at the cross-roads now: Either the enemy stop fire, and the
de-escalation and the political process start, or the enemy impose
the conflict escalation on us and the whole world," he said
Saturday. He reiterated that if the cease-fire doesn't hold,
martial law will be imposed nationwide in Ukraine.
Disagreements also flared Friday over the deal, a further sign
of the mistrust that could derail it.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told parliament an
amnesty outlined in the cease-fire wouldn't apply to the rebel
leaders because a law passed in September excluded rebels
responsible for "grave crimes."
Vladislav Deynego, a rebel leader in the Luhansk region, said
that announcement showed Kiev was already backtracking. "Kiev is
simply trying to dodge implementation of what we agreed to," Mr.
Deynego said, according to Interfax.
The Ukrainian foreign minister also said he had begun work to
involve the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in
plans for eventual local elections on separatist-held territory
under Ukrainian law.
Donetsk rebel official Denis Pushilin told a separatist news
agency that such consultations shouldn't be decided unilaterally.
He noted that the pact calls for a dialogue on the local elections
to start only after the removal of heavy artillery from the
conflict zone, and after discussions with the separatist
republics.
Oversight of the revived cease-fire falls to the OSCE, but
questions have arisen as to whether it has enough manpower and
expertise for the task.
A spokesman for the OSCE mission in Ukraine said Friday the
organization was already enhancing its monitoring capabilities. In
addition to increasing the size of its staff, he said the
organization was exploring a variety of technologies, including
satellite imaging.
Write to Alexander Kolyandr at Alexander.Kolyandr@wsj.com
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