Last week, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, Russian president Vladimir Putin and German chancellor Angela Merkel met in Minsk to discuss terms of a ceasefire and truce in eastern Ukraine. After much negotiating, a ceasefire was set for February 15, with even the rebel leaders fighting on the side of Russia, who had previously resisted a truce, signing the agreement.
The pro-Russian forces have been facing off with the Ukrainian military for almost a year, and all previous attempts at a ceasefire have failed. This truce, too, came to a quick end, as the rebels–referred to previously by Poroshenko as “terrorists”–moved to occupy Debaltsevo, a small city in the Donetsk area.
The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), a pro-Russian rebel group, had been running the area and has even held elections. The Ukrainian government denounced the elections and does not recognize the group as a legitimate authority.
On the 15th, the day the ceasefire began, a DPR leader claimed the group was following the truce and said there had been no confrontation with Ukrainian soldiers in Debaltsevo.