Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists accused each other of resuming artillery attacks in east Ukraine on Saturday, breaking a lull in shelling at a frontline hot-spot that had raised hopes the conflict’s worst escalation in months was waning. The reports came hours before a planned telephone call between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. President Donald Trump, whose aim to improve relations with Moscow has alarmed Kiev while the east Ukraine conflict remains unresolved. Kiev said pro-Russian rebels had resumed firing heavy artillery at government troop positions in the industrial zone of the town of Avdiyivka. A spokesman for Poroshenko said separatists had also fired at workers repairing power lines near the town. Fighting between government troops and separatist rebels first broke out in April 2014, after a pro-European uprising in Kiev ousted a Moscow-backed president.

Source: Huffington Post February 05, 2017 01:38 UTC