Fighting in eastern Ukraine has escalated to the worst level in months, officials monitoring the conflict said on Tuesday, after the shelling of a front-line village wounded eight civilians and destroyed or damaged dozens of homes.
A Russia-backed insurgency erupted in 2014 and the bloodshed has continued despite a cease-fire deal that was meant to end a conflict in which more than 10,000 people have been killed, with casualties reported on a near-daily basis.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which monitors the implementation of the peace agreement, said it had recorded 16,000 cease-fire violations between Dec. 11 and Dec. 17, a 35 percent increase on the week before.