Ukraine cedes disputed airport on one of bloodiest days of war
24 Jan 2015 12:00 AM GMT
Ukrainian forces have ceded a long-disputed airport to Russian-backed rebels as an upsurge in clashes killed nearly 50 people and punctured Europe’s latest push for peace in the 9-month war.
Thursday was the deadliest day of fighting since the signing of an increasingly irrelevant September truce also saw Moscow and Kiev trade bitter blame for a trolleybus shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk that killed 13 mostly elderly passengers.
Moscow called the incident a “crime against humanity” orchestrated by Kiev’s pro-Western government, whose rise to power 11 months ago infuriated the Kremlin and prompted separatists to launch a revolt across the Russian-speaking industrial east.
Kiev for its part blamed the bus attack on ‘Russian terrorists’ while monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe who raced to the site said all they could say for certain was that “the weapon used was most likely either a mortar or an artillery piece.”
Thursday was the deadliest day of fighting since the signing of an increasingly irrelevant September truce also saw Moscow and Kiev trade bitter blame for a trolleybus shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk that killed 13 mostly elderly passengers.
Moscow called the incident a “crime against humanity” orchestrated by Kiev’s pro-Western government, whose rise to power 11 months ago infuriated the Kremlin and prompted separatists to launch a revolt across the Russian-speaking industrial east.
Kiev for its part blamed the bus attack on ‘Russian terrorists’ while monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe who raced to the site said all they could say for certain was that “the weapon used was most likely either a mortar or an artillery piece.”
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