The fiercest fighting in weeks has broken in eastern Ukraine, in a clear violation of a Sept. 5 cease-fire deal, as artillery and rocket fire rained down in and around the airport in the contested city of Donetsk.
Pro-Russian separatists appear to have renewed a push to seize the airport, nearly the last remnant in the region still controlled in part by the Ukrainian army.
The Associated Press writes: "Artillery explosions roared throughout the early hours of Sunday in Donetsk, [quieting] only after sunrise. A city council statement said four residential buildings were destroyed, but it didn't give information on casualties."
NPR's Corey Flintoff says the pockmarked runways and bombed out buildings at the Donetsk airport render it of little value to aviation "but it is symbolically important to both sides in the conflict."
The Ukraine military accuse Russia of sending more heavy weapons and supplies to the separatists, who have declared the region an independent republic. Russia denies that it has any military role in the region.
The AP says that on Saturday, its reporters in the region "saw scores of military vehicles moving near Donetsk and farther to the east. Many of the unmarked vehicles were towing artillery."
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