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Fighting Rages in Donetsk as Rebels and Army Both Claim Control of Airport

The "capital" of the Donetsk People's Republic has seen a sudden escalation in violence. Photographer Maximilian Clarke captured the devastation at the besieged airport many are calling Ukraine's Stalingrad.
Image via Maximilian Clarke

Fierce fighting and heavy artillery fire have returned to Donetsk over the past week as Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists intensify attacks and ramp up the battle for the city's long-contested airport.

The sudden uptick in violence — after a relative quiet during much of the winter — came to a head in the capital of the self-declared "Donetsk People's Republic" on Sunday, with bloody clashes around the airport complex ending in competing claims of victory.

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Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told a press conference on Sunday evening that government forces had succeeded in repelling an assault by separatists and had regained control of much of the airport, restoring the situation to the status quo when a fragile ceasefire was reached on September 5.

The New Terminal, to which both sides lay claim and which is the scene of fierce fighting. Images via Maximilian Clarke.

However, Lysenko's remarks were contested by Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the self-styled "prime minister" of the Donetsk People's Republic, at an alternate press conference in the separatist-held city the following morning.

""I can say with certainty that all the attempts by the Ukrainian troops to reconquer the airport… have failed," Zakharchenko said.

On the airport's south-eastern edge, ruined commercial properties have now been abandoned by both sides.

"[Ukrainian forces] tried to convince the population of Ukraine and the global community that they were able to recapture the new terminal and take the airport under control… They] suffered huge losses; the terminal was subjected to about six attacks of armored vehicles accompanied by infantry, and all of them were rebuffed."

The fight for the symbolically and strategically important airport has been raging for several months, as the separatists try to drive Ukrainian forces from their last foothold in the city. Most of the complex has been devastated, including the control tower which finally fell last week, and the scene of ruin has been likened to Stalingrad. But the runways are still thought to be functional and could be used by the rebels to bring in much-needed supplies.

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The ruined Metro supermarket adjoining the airport.

Drone Footage Shows Ukraine's Donetsk Airport in Ruins After Months of Fighting. Read more here.

On the south-eastern edge of the airport, several commercial properties including a garage and the Metro supermarket have now been abandoned by both sides, after protracted shelling left the buildings in ruins. Inside, clothing, unexploded ordinance and empty ammunition boxes could be seen scattered throughout.

Destruction inside the Metro supermarket.

Outside the buildings, separatist armored personnel carriers and other vehicles patrolled the area, suggesting the extent of Ukrainian gains has been exaggerated.

500 yards outside the airport, DNR positions on Stratonavtiv Street remained intact as howitzers battered Ukrainian forces inside. The area was hit on multiple occasions by Grad rocket artillery, likely fired from Ukrainian-held territory. Contrary to reports from the Ukrainian side, fighters from the separatist Somali Batallion manning the forward outpost told VICE News they continued to maintain a presence within the hotly-contested New Terminal building.

A tank burns under Pulitovsky bridge shortly after its demolition by DNR forces. 

On Sunday afternoon, a crucial road bridge linking Donetsk city to the airport complex was destroyed; with initial reports suggesting it was struck by incoming artillery from Ukrainian positions. However, Zakharchenko, speaking at the same press conference the following morning, said the bridge was demolished by separatist forces in order to halt an advance of Ukrainian armor into the city.

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DNR forces claimed they destroyed the bridge to prevent a Ukrainian advance into the city.

The renewed intensity of fighting around the airport has coincided with a marked increase in artillery fire from both Ukrainian and pro-Russia forces.

Several districts across Donetsk sustained heavy damage on the evening of January 17, likely from Ukrainian batteries outside the city, and a Grad rocket artillery salvo struck an electricity substation causing in a blackout across several neighborhoods in the west of the city.

Dramatic photo: night becomes day as — Maximilian Clarke (@MTIClarke)January 17, 2015

The surge in violence has brought fresh civilian casualties, with local authorities reporting at least eight killed and many injured. The International Committee of the Red Cross called on both sides to refrain from harming civilians and abide by international law. "In particular, we remind them that indiscriminate attacks are prohibited," Michel Masson, head of the ICRC delegation in Ukraine, said. "We are deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine over the past two weeks."

A propellant charge from a tank lies in the snow.

Ten Civilians Killed in Ukrainian Bus Attack as Donetsk Airport Control Tower Is Destroyed. Read more here.

With the escalation in shelling, outgoing fire from DNR howitzers targeting Ukrainian positions has also increased significantly and can regularly be heard from positions within the city limits.

Surrounding towns have also suffered, with the two sides again swapping accusations of civilian deaths. The separatists said nine people were killed by an aerial attack on Horlivka, a town they hold to the north of the airport. Meanwhile Ukrainian TV reported that two people were killed, including a boy, and 10 others wounded by shelling the government-held town of Debaltseve.

DNR separatists on patrol.

The fighting prompted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gregory Karasin to warn Ukraine that relying on a military solution was "the biggest, even strategic mistake" that could "lead to irreversible consequences for Ukraine's statehood."

Ukraine said two large groups of Russian forces had crossed the border into Ukraine on Monday, but there was no independent confirmation.

Follow Maximilian Clarke on Twitter: @mticlarke