City of Debaltseve emerges as a tipping point in Ukraine’s war

[Jesus Malverde]

After struggling to hold back rebel assaults for eight days, Alexander Dashkeivich, a volunteer captain in Ukraine’s 25th battalion, was standing guard over the villages of Nikishyne and Ridkodub on the eastern Ukrainian front on Friday when out of nowhere came the command to abandon their positions.

Along with hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, they were being relocated north to Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub that exists as a Kiev-controlled peninsula in a sea of territory held by east Ukraine’s Russia-backed separatists.

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At stake is control over regional railway shipments of coal mined in rebel-held territory on which Ukraine’s electricity generators and export-oriented steel sector depend.

Capturing Debaltseve would allow Moscow to further cripple Kiev’s fragile energy sector and recession-battered economy. It would also put rebel fighters within striking distance of a vast weapons depot 50km north in the town of Artemivsk.

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In a bid to boost the fighting spirit, Ukraine’s government last week offered $60 bonuses to soldiers for each day of combat, and thousands more for each enemy tank, armoured personnel carrier or Grad rocket launcher they destroyed.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7fe1d32e-b047-11e4-92b6-00144feab7de.html