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    As Ukraine Talks Open, Civilians Evacuate from Embattled Strategic Town

   by Daniel Schearf

   Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels began evacuating civilians
   from a strategic town in eastern Ukraine Friday, as French and German
   leaders arrived in Moscow in an effort to replace a tattered cease-fire
   agreement.

   With fighting erupting in several places north, east and south of the
   regional commercial center of Donetsk, rebel forces have pressed to
   seize Debaltseve, where a railroad switching yard is located, about 25
   miles northeast of Donetsk.

   On Friday, the two sides agreed to a humanitarian corridor to bus out
   locals caught in the crossfire, who have been living without heat or
   water. The town had around 25,000 before the rebellion erupted last
   year.

   A spokesman for Ukraine's military, Colonel Andriy Lysenko, said
   shelling in Debaltseve decreased slightly since Thursday. But he said
   fighting was intensifying near Luhansk, north of Donetsk, and Mariupol,
   a coastal city south of Donetsk on the Sea of Azov.

   Lysenko claimed Ukrainian forces had repelled the attacks, killing 60
   rebel fighters and destroying four tanks. Ukrainians lost two and saw
   26 wounded. The figures could not be independently confirmed, however.

   Oleksandr Horbatko, of the non-governmental aid organization
   Donbas-SOS, said the situation was dire, particularly in Debaltseve,
   where people have been hiding in their basements from the shelling.
   Many are cooking food over open fires because electricity and gas have
   cut off, and most food shops are closed.

   Most people want to leave but communications are difficult outside of
   central areas, Horbatko said.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-fighting-talks/2631887.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-fighting-talks/2631887.html