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Battles in eastern Ukraine have surged anew, with the civilian population suffering dozens of deaths from ongoing rocket attacks. A collapse of peace talks in Belarus in mid-January preceded intensified fighting in Donetsk, with pro-Russian separatists making strides in capturing territory from the government in Kiev.

Their main offensive is now directed at Debaltseve - a government-held railway junction once populated by 25,000 people that lies between the rebel-held cities of Luhansk and Donetsk. Almost 2,000 residents have fled in the last few days alone.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has accused Russia of sending thousands of troops to back the rebels, while the United States and European Union threaten tougher measures should Moscow fail to rein in the separatists.

A piece of an exploded rocket is photographed outside an apartment building in Vostochniy, district of Mariupol, Eastern Ukraine, on January 25, 2015.

A car burns on the street after a shelling by pro-Russian rebels of a residential sector of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on January 24, 2015.

A Ukrainian serviceman fires a weapon during fighting with pro-Russian separatists in Pesky village, near Donetsk, on January 21, 2015.

The body of a civilian killed when a mortar shell landed near a bus stop, lies on the ground in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on January 30, 2015.

A child waits on a bus to leave the town of Debaltseve in Artemivsk, Ukraine, on February 3, 2015.

In this photo taken on January 21, 2015, the destroyed airport in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine is pictured.

This photo taken by a drone on Thursday, January 15, 2015 shows the destroyed airport in Donetsk after months of intense fighting.

Inside the destroyed airport in Donetsk on January 21, 2015.

This photo taken by a drone on January 15, 2015 shows a destroyed control tower at the airport in Donetsk.

Ukrainian army vehicles drive through fields near the town of Debaltseve, Ukraine, Monday, February 2, 2015.

A pro-Russian separatist lies on the ground as he takes cover near the eastern Ukrainian city of Debaltseve, on January 28, 2015.

(OSCE) monitors investigate outside an apartment building damaged in a recent shelling in which scores of people were killed and injured in Mariupol, Ukraine, on January 27, 2015.

A woman reacts as she looks at her apartment damaged by a recent shelling in Yenakieve town, northeast of Donetsk, on February 2, 2015.

Pieces of broken glass and blood on the ground in clinic 27, damaged after shelling, in Donetsk, on February 4, 2015.

A woman covers the body of a man who was killed during a shelling in a residential area of Donetsk's Tekstilshik district, on February 4, 2015.

A man chops wood to light a fire outside of his home in the town Svitlodarsk, Ukraine, on January 30, 2015.

A sniper stands on a balcony in the pro-Russian rebel-controlled sector of Eastern Ukraine near the town of Yenakiyevo.

An administrative building destroyed in recent battles.

Ukrainian Army soldiers being held as prisoners sit in a hall inside a Russian-backed separatist military base outside Donetsk, on February 3, 2015.

A girl kisses her father, a conscript, after a ceremony marking enrollment for new conscripts in the Ukrainian army in Kiev on January 29, 2015.

A Ukrainian serviceman takes up a position at an abandoned house during clean-up operations in a village in the Lysychansk.

A house burns after shelling destroyed several homes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on February 3, 2015.

The remains of a man lie near a bus stop that was damaged in shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on January 20, 2015.

A man stands next to his car on February 1, 2015 after it was destroyed by shelling.

A rebel comforts the wife of a civilian, killed in shelling, in Donetsk, on January 30, 2015.

Local residents gather inside a bomb shelter in Debaltseve, Donetsk region, on January 30, 2015.

A pro-Russian fighter (left) guards an injured Ukrainian soldier held prisoner at the hospital in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on February 2, 2015.

A woman walks through a residential area hit by the Ukrainian Army Artillery in Voroshilovsky area, center of Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 18, 2015.