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           Ukraine Rebel Leader Vows to Launch New Push for Territory

   by VOA News

   A pro-Russian separatist leader in Ukraine said he will not push for
   new peace talks with the Ukrainian government, vowing instead to gain
   control of more territory in the east.

   Russian news agencies quoted rebel chief Alexander Zakharchenko, based
   in the eastern city of Donetsk, saying Friday that his forces are
   launching a new offensive to expand their territory.

   On Thursday in Donetsk, at least 13 people were killed when a trolley
   bus was hit in an apparent mortar attack, sparking accusations of blame
   from both sides.

   Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk published a statement on the
   government's web site blaming what he called "Russian terrorists" for
   the attack in the city that has been at the center of the months-long
   conflict between government troops and pro-Russia separatists in
   eastern Ukraine.

   Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukrainian forces were
   responsible for what he called a "monstrous crime" and a "crude
   provocation."

   Amnesty International denounced what it called the "appalling loss of
   civilian life."  The London-based human rights group added that a
   "thorough, impartial and independent investigation into this possible
   violation of the laws of war is needed immediately."

   Meanwhile, pro-Russian separatists paraded a group of captured
   Ukrainian servicemen Thursday at the bus stop where the trolley bus was
   hit. Some of the captured servicemen were reportedly abused by local
   residents.

   The shelling incident follows a sharp escalation of the fighting in
   eastern Ukraine and amid fresh accusations by Kyiv that Russian
   military forces had crossed the border to assist the rebels.

   Ukrainian military authorities say troops had been pulled out of key
   positions at the Donetsk airport, the site of months of bitter
   fighting.

   NATO's top military commander, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove,
   said the fighting in eastern Ukraine had intensified to levels equal to
   or greater than those before the two sides signed a cease-fire
   agreement last September.

   He told a news conference in Brussels that the separatist have "renewed
   capabilities" and that NATO is beginning to see "the [heat] signatures
   of air defense systems and electronic warfare systems that have
   accompanied past Russian troop movements into Ukraine."

   NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the
   alliance had seen Russian forces present in eastern Ukraine for several
   months, as well as a "substantial increase" in heavy Russian military
   equipment in the region.

   Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Wednesday that 2,000 Russian
   troops had recently crossed into Ukraine with 200 tanks and armored
   personnel carriers, and that a total of more than 9,000 Russian troops
   are now inside his country, along with 500 tanks, heavy artillery and
   APCs.

   Speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting late Wednesday, U.S.
   Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power called new peace proposals that
   Russian President Vladimir Putin sent to Poroshenko last week amounted
   to "a Russian occupation plan."

   Responding to Power's accusations, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly
   Churkin accused the United States of playing "a destructive role" in
   the Ukrainian crisis.

   Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused the
   pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine of violating an earlier
   truce deal with "a blatant land grab" in new fighting near the Russian
   border.

   Kerry spoke Wednesday alongside European Union foreign policy chief
   Federica Mogherini in Washington. He called the new fighting "an
   alarming situation," adding that rebels have violated a deal they
   signed in September by extending their control of disputed territory
   more than 1,000 square kilometers.

   Moscow has repeatedly denied direct involvement in the Ukraine crisis,
   which erupted into warfare in April 2014 when pro-Russian separatists
   in the Russian-speaking east launched a rebellion against Kyiv's rule.

   Russian Foreign Minster Lavrov issued the latest Kremlin denial
   Wednesday in Moscow. He also said Russia is willing to help facilitate
   a new Ukraine cease-fire in a push to end fighting that has killed
   nearly 5,000 people in the past nine months.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-rebel-leader-vows-to-launch-new-push-for-territory/2610326.html