A sign of where Ukrainian conflict could lead? Victims of mortar attack stand before their flaming home, like a scene from the Eastern Front in the Second World War
- Ukrainian officials said one border guard was killed during a mortar strike
- Villages in the Lugansk region were targeted, engulfing homes in flames
- Scenes resemble the trail of destruction left by Hitler's army 70 years ago
- Buildings were set ablaze by ground and air forces between 1941 and 1943
Devastated
residents have been forced to flea their burning homes in Ukraine
following mortar attacks in scenes reminiscent of the Eastern Front
during the Second World War.
Suburban
buildings were engulfed in flames and shell craters dotted the ground
as strategic positions along the border with Russia were targeted.
The
image of devastation in Lugansk is a sign of the escalation in military
tensions between Kiev and the Kremlin following the end of a 10-day
ceasefire.
But
the pictures, which strongly resemble the trail of destruction left by
Hitler's forces in the Soviet Union 70 years ago, are also a worrying
sign of how the conflict could develop.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
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Devastation: Victims
stand outside a burning house in the village of Nikolayevka in Lugansk
in the aftermath of a mortar attack which left a Ukrainian border guard
dead
Trail of destruction: A woman fleas her home in Russia after being set alight by Hitler's forces in 1943
Ukraine's
border guards service says a serviceman was killed and eight were
wounded when a post on the border with Russia came under heavy mortar
attack.
In a statement, the service says the attack took place before dawn Wednesday at the Novoazovsk post in the southeastern part of the Donetsk region. Donetsk is one of two eastern regions where Ukrainian forces are fighting pro-Russia separatists.
A 10-day unilateral cease-fire
by the Ukrainian side expired late Monday after separatists rejected
calls to lay down their weapons.
Border posts have become key positions, as Ukraine claims the rebels are receiving support and reinforcements from Russia.
It is similar to the strategy used by the Germans in 1941 during Operation Barbossa, the offensive which began a three-year military campaign on the Eastern Front.
Homes in the region, which was part of the USSR at the time, were attacked first from the air by the Luftwaffe and then by ground troops.
Pictures taken at the time show swathes of villages covered in flames.
This week, Ukraine says it retook control of one border post from rebels. The guards service said Wednesday the insurgents had mined the post with explosives.
In the wake of the new attacks, foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France have also agreed on series of steps for a resumption of the cease-fire.
In a statement, the service says the attack took place before dawn Wednesday at the Novoazovsk post in the southeastern part of the Donetsk region. Donetsk is one of two eastern regions where Ukrainian forces are fighting pro-Russia separatists.
More...
Border posts have become key positions, as Ukraine claims the rebels are receiving support and reinforcements from Russia.
It is similar to the strategy used by the Germans in 1941 during Operation Barbossa, the offensive which began a three-year military campaign on the Eastern Front.
Homes in the region, which was part of the USSR at the time, were attacked first from the air by the Luftwaffe and then by ground troops.
Pictures taken at the time show swathes of villages covered in flames.
This week, Ukraine says it retook control of one border post from rebels. The guards service said Wednesday the insurgents had mined the post with explosives.
In the wake of the new attacks, foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France have also agreed on series of steps for a resumption of the cease-fire.
Escape: A helpless man keeps his dog on a leash as his home burns in the background in Lugansk
Aerial warfare: This home, captured in
1941, would have been hit during an air raid during the three-year
offensive on the Eastern Front
Landmark: A local resident sits near a
shell crater following an air strike carried out by Ukrainian armed
forces on Stanitsa Luganskaya in Lugansk, Ukraine
Ground forces: A German soldier looks
over a home engulfed in flames in 1942 as part of a German campaign to
destroy homes by setting them on fire
Aftermath: Debris surrounds a burning house in Stanitsa Luganskaya, a village in Lugansk, which was targeted by shells
Scene: A woman grabs onto a metal fence as a house in Lugansk, Ukraine, burns in the background
Today,
Ukraine is continuing its 'massive artillery and air offensive' against
rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk regions amid unconfirmed claims of heavy
casualties among insurgents.
But separatists have already claimed to have shot down a Sukhoi Su-27 over Luganskaya village in Lugansk region.
Yesterday,
fighting resumed in the country after Kiev President Petro Poroshenko
refused to extend a shaky ten-day ceasefire in the conflict with rebels,
vowing: 'We will attack'.
At the same time, Putin claimed he could not dictate to the
pro-Moscow insurgents to lay down their arms, with his spokesman
declaring: 'Russia's influence on the militia should not be
overestimated.'
Shortly after Poroshenko ended the ceasefire, a five-hour gunbattle erupted in eastern Ukraine's largest city, resulting in the Interior Ministry headquarters falling to pro-Russia separatists.
The
cease-fire had given European leaders 10 days to search for a peaceful
settlement, and its end raised the prospect that fighting could flare
with new intensity in a conflict that has already killed more than 400
people since April.
In
Donetsk, the capital of Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland, streets
were deserted and gunfire filled the air yesterday as rebels besieged
the Interior Ministry building.
The rebels eventually captured the compound, leaving the body of a undercover police officer on the street outside.
Damage: A woman examines her house after shelling in the city of Slovyansk, Donetsk Region, on Monday
Fire:L A fireman tries to extinguish a burning house after Slovyansk came under shelling from the government
'I
was driving and some people appeared with automatic weapons,' a man
named Vitaly, who said he was too fearful to give his last name, told
the Associated Press.
'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.'
It
was not clear what prompted the rebel attack on the Interior Ministry
headquarters, which houses regional police, who have peacefully
coexisted with the rebels even though they still officially answer to
the central government in Kiev.
Announcement: Fighting has resumed in
Ukraine after Kiev President Petro Poroshenko refused to extend a shaky
ten-day ceasefire in the conflict with rebels, Above, Poroshenko ends
the ceasefire yesterday
Today,
foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine are set to
meet in Berlin to continue searching for a settlement.
In
Brussels, the European Union's 28 governments decided yesterday they
were not ready to hit Russia with a new round of sanctions over Ukraine.
They have put off a decision until Monday, according to an EU official.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2677613/American-military-advisers-masterminding-Ukraines-surge-against-pro-Russian-separatists-bid-expand-Nato-east.html#ixzz37W6kbj4L
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