Buildings were set ablaze by ground and air forces between 1941 and 1943

Buildings were set ablaze by ground and air forces between 1941 and 1943

Devastated residents have been forced to flea their burning homes in Ukraine following mortar attacks in scenes reminiscent of the Eastern Front during the Second World War.

Suburban buildings were engulfed in flames and shell craters dotted the ground as strategic positions along the border with Russia were targeted.

The image of devastation in Lugansk is a sign of the escalation in military tensions between Kiev and the Kremlin following the end of a 10-day ceasefire.

But the pictures, which strongly resemble the trail of destruction left by Hitler's forces in the Soviet Union 70 years ago, are also a worrying sign of how the conflict could develop.

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Devastation: Victims stand outside a burning house in the village of Nikolayevka in Lugansk in the aftermath of a mortar attack which left a Ukrainian border guard dead

Trail of destruction: A woman fleas her home in Russia after being set alight by Hitler's forces in 1943

Ukraine's border guards service says a serviceman was killed and eight were wounded when a post on the border with Russia came under heavy mortar attack. In a statement, the service says the attack took place before dawn Wednesday at the Novoazovsk post in the southeastern part of the Donetsk region. Donetsk is one of two eastern regions where Ukrainian forces are fighting pro-Russia separatists. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Still fit to serve! 77-year-old veteran beats young rivals... Fighting resumes in Ukraine after president ends ceasefire... Share this article Share A 10-day unilateral cease-fire by the Ukrainian side expired late Monday after separatists rejected calls to lay down their weapons. Border posts have become key positions, as Ukraine claims the rebels are receiving support and reinforcements from Russia. It is similar to the strategy used by the Germans in 1941 during Operation Barbossa, the offensive which began a three-year military campaign on the Eastern Front.

Homes in the region, which was part of the USSR at the time, were attacked first from the air by the Luftwaffe and then by ground troops. Pictures taken at the time show swathes of villages covered in flames.

This week, Ukraine says it retook control of one border post from rebels. The guards service said Wednesday the insurgents had mined the post with explosives. In the wake of the new attacks, foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France have also agreed on series of steps for a resumption of the cease-fire.



Escape: A helpless man keeps his dog on a leash as his home burns in the background in Lugansk

Aerial warfare: This home, captured in 1941, would have been hit during an air raid during the three-year offensive on the Eastern Front

Landmark: A local resident sits near a shell crater following an air strike carried out by Ukrainian armed forces on Stanitsa Luganskaya in Lugansk, Ukraine Ground forces: A German soldier looks over a home engulfed in flames in 1942 as part of a German campaign to destroy homes by setting them on fire

Aftermath: Debris surrounds a burning house in Stanitsa Luganskaya, a village in Lugansk, which was targeted by shells Scene: A woman grabs onto a metal fence as a house in Lugansk, Ukraine, burns in the background

Today, Ukraine is continuing its 'massive artillery and air offensive' against rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk regions amid unconfirmed claims of heavy casualties among insurgents.

But separatists have already claimed to have shot down a Sukhoi Su-27 over Luganskaya village in Lugansk region.

Yesterday, fighting resumed in the country after Kiev President Petro Poroshenko refused to extend a shaky ten-day ceasefire in the conflict with rebels, vowing: 'We will attack'.

At the same time, Putin claimed he could not dictate to the pro-Moscow insurgents to lay down their arms, with his spokesman declaring: 'Russia's influence on the militia should not be overestimated.'

Shortly after Poroshenko ended the ceasefire, a five-hour gunbattle erupted in eastern Ukraine's largest city, resulting in th e Interior Ministry headquarters falling to pro-Russia separatists.

The cease-fire had given European leaders 10 days to search for a peaceful settlement, and its end raised the prospect that fighting could flare with new intensity in a conflict that has already killed more than 400 people since April.

In Donetsk, the capital of Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland, streets were deserted and gunfire filled the air yesterday as rebels besieged the Interior Ministry building.

The rebels eventually captured the compound, leaving the body of a undercover police officer on the street outside.

Damage: A woman examines her house after shelling in the city of Slovyansk, Donetsk Region, on Monday

Fire:L A fireman tries to extinguish a burning house after Slovyansk came under shelling from the government

'I was driving and some people appeared with automatic weapons,' a man named Vitaly, who said he was too fearful to give his last name, told the Associated Press.

'They put me and my girlfriend on the ground and then they said: "Run away from here!"

'I don't know who is fighting whom. We are standing here. We are afraid and shaking.'

It was not clear what prompted the rebel attack on the Interior Ministry headquarters, which houses regional police, who have peacefully coexisted with the rebels even though they still officially answer to the central government in Kiev.

Announcement: Fighting has resumed in Ukraine after Kiev President Petro Poroshenko refused to extend a shaky ten-day ceasefire in the conflict with rebels, Above, Poroshenko ends the ceasefire yesterday

Today, foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine are set to meet in Berlin to continue searching for a settlement.

In Brussels, the European Union's 28 governments decided yesterday they were not ready to hit Russia with a new round of sanctions over Ukraine.