Under a Ukraine cease-fire agreement reached last week, heavy weaponry was supposed to be removed from the frontline starting Tuesday. Neither Ukraine's military nor the Russia-supplied separatists fighting them are going to meet the deadline, at least in the battle for the strategically important transportation hub of Debaltseve. Associated Press reporters observed shelling by both sides on Tuesday morning in Debaltseve, and neither side appears set to move until the other goes first.
"As soon as the militants cease fire, the Ukrainian side will begin to withdraw heavy weaponry from the frontline," Ukraine military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said early Tuesday. On a brighter note, most of the other battle zones in eastern Ukraine appear to be calm, AP reports, in a sign that the cease-fire is holding elsewhere in the country. Reuters has some footage from outside Debaltseve. —Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
4 ways to give back this holiday seasonThe Explainer If your budget is feeling squeezed, remember that money is not the only way you can be generous around the holidays
-
4 tips for hosting an ecofriendly ThanksgivingThe Week Recommends Coming together for the holidays typically produces a ton of waste, but with proper preparation, you can have an environmentally friendly gathering.
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Ukraine-Russia: are both sides readying for nuclear war?Today's Big Question Putin changes doctrine to lower threshold for atomic weapons after Ukraine strikes with Western missiles
-
The North Korean troops readying for deployment in UkraineThe Explainer Third country wading into conflict would be 'the first step to a world war' Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned
-
Experts call for a Nato bank to 'Trump-proof' military spendingUnder The Radar A new lender could aid co-operation and save millions of pounds, say think tanks
-
What happens if Russia declares war on Nato?Today's Big Question Fears are growing after Vladimir Putin's 'unusually specific warning' to Western governments
-
Missile escalation: will long-range rockets make a difference to Ukraine?Today's Big Question Kyiv is hoping for permission to use US missiles to strike deep into Russian territory
-
Atesh: the Ukrainian partisans taking on RussiaUnder The Radar Underground resistance fighters are risking their lives to defend their country
-
'Second only to a nuclear bomb' – the controversial arms Russia is using in UkraineThe Explainer Thermobaric bombs 'capable of vaporising human bodies' have been used against Ukraine
-
The peaceful archipelago that may take up armsUnder The Radar Russia's invasion of Ukraine has left the Åland Islands 'peculiarly vulnerable'
