Heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine town threatens fragile cease-fire
A day after a cease-fire in Ukraine was scheduled to take effect and a day before a deadline for heavy weaponry to be pulled back from the frontline, heavy fighting continued in the government-held town of Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub that the separatists claim to have surrounded. Kiev said that five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and another 25 wounded since the cease-fire started.
The Russia-backed separatists, who say they won't respect the cease-fire in Debaltseve because they believe the town is rightfully theirs, wouldn't let cease-fire monitors from the Organization from Security and Cooperation in Europe into the town on Sunday. On Monday, the European Union added 19 Ukrainians and Russians and nine organizations to its list of entities subject to economic sanctions. Those added included two Russia deputy defense ministers, several separatist commanders, and Russia's Frank Sinatra, Ukrainian-born singer Iosif Kobzon.
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