Artillery attack on town behind front line kills 12, wounds 64

SARTANA, UKRAINE— Fighting intensified Tuesday in eastern Ukraine ahead of much-anticipated peace talks, with both sides claiming significant advances. The government accused the Russianbacked rebels of shelling a town far behind the front lines, killing 12 people and wounding 64 others.

The fighting, which the UN says has killed more than 5,300 people since April, comes ahead of a cru- cial summit planned for Wednesday in Minsk involving the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the talks were “one of the last” opportunities for ending the fighting. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of fuelling the rebellion with troops and weapons. Moscow denies the charge but the number of heavy weapons in the rebel hands belies the denial.

Poroshenko told the parliament in Kyiv that the separatists launched a rocket strike Tuesday on the town of Kramatorsk, which is more than 50 kilometres away from the nearest front line. Poroshenko said the first round of rocket fire hit the region’s military command headquarters and the second landed in a residential area. Rebels denied any involvement in the attack and said it was a “provocation” by the Ukrainian authorities.

Kramatorsk was the site of major fighting until July, when pro-Russian separatists retreated.