烏克蘭東部再起戰火5人喪生

Fresh fighting between Ukraine's military and Russia-backed separatists killed at least five people in the region of Donetsk, officials said Tuesday.

官方報道說，在新的一輪對抗中，烏克蘭軍隊和俄羅斯支持的分離分子武裝在頓涅茨克相互炮擊，打死至少5人。

Officials at the rebel-run Donetsk city hall also said at least 13 people were wounded in the fierce outbreak of shelling over the previous 24 hours.

分離分子武裝控制的頓涅茨克的市政廳官員說，24小時的激烈炮擊還造成至少13人受傷。

Fighting has raged in the self-declared separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, especially around the Ukrainian-controlled town of Debaltseve, since peace talks in Belarus between Ukraine's government and the separatists collapsed Saturday.

自從上週六烏克蘭政府和分離分子在白俄羅斯的和平談判破裂之後，自行宣佈獨立的頓涅茨克和盧甘斯克爆發了激烈戰鬥，特別是在烏克蘭控制的城鎮德巴爾切夫周圍。

There are fears the violence could soon escalate. On Monday, a pro-Russian separatist leader announced a "general mobilization" with the aim of bolstering separatist armed forces to as many as 100,000 fighters.

人們擔心暴力還會升級。一名親俄羅斯分離主義領袖星期一宣佈“總動員”，目標是將反政府武裝擴大到10萬人。

Meanwhile, the United States says it has not made a decision on whether to provide Ukraine with lethal military assistance in its fight against the separatists.

與此同時，美國表示還沒有決定是否向烏克蘭提供殺傷性武器，幫助烏克蘭打擊分離主義分子。