Ukrainians take cover as military, rebels clash

A pro-Russian fighter runs past a huge poster during fighting near a regional police department in downtown Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, July 1, 2014. Ukraine renewed its attacks against armed pro-Russian separatists Tuesday after the president called off a unilateral cease-fire, carrying out air and artillery strikes against rebel positions in eastern Ukraine.
A pro-Russian fighter runs past a huge poster during fighting near a regional police department in downtown Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, July 1, 2014. Ukraine renewed its attacks against armed pro-Russian separatists Tuesday after the president called off a unilateral cease-fire, carrying out air and artillery strikes against rebel positions in eastern Ukraine.

DONETSK, Ukraine -- Panicked residents looked for a safe place to hide Tuesday as Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia separatists fought an hours-long gunbattle in the center of Donetsk, the largest city in eastern Ukraine.

Rebels captured the Interior Ministry headquarters in the city a day after the president said they weren't serious about peace and ended a cease-fire.

Ukrainian forces have been unable to suppress the rebels in two months of fighting that has already killed more than 400 people.

President Petro Poroshenko had called a unilateral cease-fire to try to persuade the rebels to lay down their weapons and hold peace talks. Some of the rebels later signed onto the cease-fire as talks began. But each side accused the other of repeated violations during the 10 days it was in effect.

In Donetsk, many streets were deserted and rifle fire rang out as rebels attacked the Interior Ministry's building. After hours of gunbattles, the rebels took over the compound, leaving the body of a plainclothes police officer outside.

In Kiev, the interior minister said Ukrainian forces had repelled a rebel attack in Donetsk, but residents disputed that report.

"I was driving, and some people appeared with automatic weapons," said Vitaly, a resident who said he was too fearful to give his last name. "They put me and my girlfriend on the ground and then they said, 'Run away from here!'

"I don't know who is fighting whom. We are standing here. We are afraid and shaking."

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin argued that substantive talks with representatives in eastern Ukraine had failed to start in earnest and that the cease-fire announced by Poroshenko amounted to an ultimatum for the rebels to disarm.

Putin warned that by ending the cease-fire, Poroshenko has made himself politically responsible for the fighting, which began before his early June inauguration.

Poroshenko announced the end of the cease-fire late Monday, and by early Tuesday the military had made artillery and airstrikes against separatist positions, said Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkovsky.

He said one service member was killed and 17 wounded in the previous 24 hours, and that an Su-25 attack aircraft was damaged. There was no comment on casualties from the rebels.

Near the village of Karlovka, 20 miles northwest of Donetsk, residents said government forces and rebels began firing heavy weapons at each other from positions on either side of a bridge early Tuesday, just hours after the cease-fire expired.

"There was shooting near the water. Even the water was splattering out," resident Inna Vladimirovna said. "We know when they are just shooting to scare and when they are shooting to kill."

European leaders have been pressing Putin to persuade the rebels to lay down their weapons. The West says Russia is backing the rebels by sending weapons, including tanks and rocket launchers, to them and allowing Russian citizens to cross the border to fight.

Russia has rejected those claims and said it has limited influence on the rebels, urging the Ukrainian government to negotiate directly with them.

Poroshenko held four-way phone talks with Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Sunday and Monday. He said those did not produce enough progress to merit extending the cease-fire.

Putin on Tuesday denounced the Western threat of sanctions against his country as blackmail, adding that Moscow wouldn't accept "ultimatums and mentor's tone."

European leaders had threatened a new round of economic sanctions against Russia over its perceived role in the fighting, but ambassadors from the European Union's 28 governments decided Tuesday in Brussels that they were not ready to do that and put off a decision until Monday, an EU official said.

That proposal would target those responsible for fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine, a diplomat from a major EU country said, and could include travel bans and asset freezes for both individuals and companies. The EU has so far sanctioned only individuals.

Both the EU official and the diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't allowed to discuss the private talks.

Information for this article was contributed by David McHugh, Juergen Baetz and Vladimir Isachenkov of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/02/2014

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