iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Ukraine’s military is hitting back at insurgent targets in eastern cities after determining that a ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists was ultimately futile.
President Petro Poroshenko labeled those who broke the ten-day ceasefire, killing more than two dozen Ukrainian soldiers, as “terrorists, militants and marauders.”
With the separatists refusing to surrender their arms and negotiate a possible end to the three-month standoff, Ukraine launched artillery and air strikes Tuesday on insurgent strongholds in the cities of Donetsk, Luhansk, Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.
There was no word on the success of the latest offensive, although the separatists have thus far been able to repel virtually all attempts to dislodge them from eastern cities.
In other developments, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to protect the interests of Russians and Ukrainians who side with Moscow.
Putin tried to persuade Poroshenko to continue the ceasefire with German and French leaders on his side, but to no avail.
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