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Months into Ukraine's political crisis, rebels appear to be shaken and isolated, The New York Times reports. Though separatists attempted to take control of the airport in Donetsk Monday afternoon, Ukrainian forces appeared to oust the fighters by evening.

The seizure of the airport suggests a potentially desperate escalation by militants just one day after European ally Petro Poroshenko won the Ukrainian presidential elections in a landslide. Poroshenko promises to calm fighting in the eastern part of the country and if Kremlin support wanes, the militants are unlikely to maintain purchase in the volatile region. Rebels have been forced to appeal to Russian President Putin for any kind of military or economic aid. --Lauren Hansen